Andy Murray was made to work for his place in the French Open quarter-finals as he was taken to four sets before battling past France’s Jeremy Chardy in the fourth round.
It is Murray’s 17th consecutive appearance in the last eight of a grand slam and his 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-2 victory means he will now face Spain’s David Ferrer for a spot in the semi-finals.
Ferrer will almost certainly provide a sterner test than Chardy, who enjoyed a purple patch to clinch the second set, but paid the price for his inconsistency, which included 10 double faults and 56 unforced errors.
“I felt like I played a good match today,” Murray said.
“I was hitting the ball well, there were a lot of good rallies and I needed to play well today.
“It gets tougher every match, I now play Ferrer, someone I’ve never beaten on clay before and have lost to at the French Open once.
“I’m going to have to play fantastic tennis against him because he’s a fantastic player.”
Chardy talked in the build-up about capitalising on the home crowd but it was the Frenchman who started nervously, serving two consecutive double faults in the first game to hand Murray an early break.
The world number 45 broke back immediately but again his serve let him down as another double fault helped Murray go 4-2 ahead.
The Frenchman briefly irritated Murray when he twice caught a wayward ball toss only then to serve an ace, but that was about as uncomfortable as it got for the Scot in the first set, which he served out with ease.
Double faults continued to plague Chardy at the start of the second set but Murray failed to take advantage as his opponent survived two lengthy service games, the first of which included nine deuces, and five break points.
The missed opportunities breathed life into both the French crowd and Chardy, who proceeded to enjoy a golden spell, winning five of the next six games to take the second set and gain an early break in the third.
It seemed inevitable Chardy’s hot streak, which included 18 winners in the second set – twice as many as the first, would eventually cool off and it did, as a double fault and missed smash helped Murray break back in the second game.
Normal service promptly resumed, Chardy serving his ninth double fault to give his opponent a 5-3 lead, and Murray closed out to regain control.
Chardy continued to unleash the occasional winner but unforced errors, and shaky second serves, became more frequent and a missed forehand gave Murray a break in the third game of the fourth.
The momentum was now firmly back in the Briton’s favour and he produced some glittering points late on, including a stunning backhand pass and a brilliant forehand return, before wrapping up victory in two hours and 51 minutes.