Andy Murray earned a place in the quarter-finals of the ATP Challenger Tour 175 event in Aix-en-Provence with a three-set win over Laurent Lokoli.
Murray secured a 6-4 5-7 6-3 victory with his sixth match point at the Open Aix Provence Credit Agricole.
The 35-year-old, who at 52nd is ranked 135 places higher than the Frenchman, made it back-to-back wins for the first time since Indian Wells in March.
He will face another Frenchman, Luca Van Assche, in Friday’s quarter-final.
Murray shaded the first set before breaking serve for a 5-2 lead in the second.
But the three-time major winner failed to take two match points as Lokoli, heavily backed by the home support, recovered to 5-4.
Another two match points were lost and Lokoli took the second set before Murray converted a third break point to lead 5-3 in the decider.
Lokoli saved a fifth match point but a relieved Murray eventually claimed victory at the sixth attempt.
Aryna Sabalenka cruised past Maria Sakkari in straight sets to secure her place in the Madrid Open final.
The world number two dropped just five games in a comfortable 6-4 6-1 win over her Greek opponent.
Belarusian Sabalenka, 24, has reached her second consecutive clay-court final, having lost to world number one Iga Swiatek in Stuttgart last month.
Poland’s Swiatek will set up a repeat of that match if she beats Veronika Kudermetova in the second semi-final.
Sabalenka, who claimed her first Grand Slam at the Australian Open in January, is hunting a second Madrid title in three years after winning the tournament in 2021.
Jodie Burrage has missed her first opportunity to replace Emma Raducanu as the British number one.
Burrage was beaten 6-4 6-3 by Belgium’s Greet Minnen in the second round of a Challenger event in Saint-Malo.
Victory would have moved the 23-year-old above Raducanu, who will be out of action for “a few months”, in the British rankings.
(BBC)
