Andy Murray felt his ability to adjust to conditions was the key to his last-32 victory over Grigor Dimitrov in the Sony Open in Miami.
The second seed was under the cosh for much of the opening set but turned things around to win 7-6 (7/3) 6-3 in one hour and 54 minutes.
“It was obviously way cooler (with) much slower conditions,” Murray said. “The ball wasn’t going as quick. I was leaving the ball a bit short.
“Once I started to improve my depth a bit, I made it tough for him and he started to make more mistakes after that.”
Nonetheless, Murray will be looking for a much improved performance when he takes on 16th seed Andreas Seppi in the fourth round, having struggled for form against world number 32 Dimitrov.
Murray, who won the title in 2009, had beaten the Bulgarian in both of their previous encounters but battled with his first serve from the off and found himself a break down in game four after some confident returning from his opponent.
The Scot broke back the very next game when Dimitrov missed an attempted lob but the Bulgarian opened up another lead straightaway, with a forehand volley at full stretch which left Murray stranded.
Dimitrov then held serve to go 5-2 ahead and saw two set points saved in the next game as Murray clung on by his fingertips.
However, luck was on the Briton’s side in game nine when Dimitrov, serving for the set, dished up three double faults to gift Murray a route back in.
The opening set was eventually settled by a tie break, where a couple of unforced errors from Dimitrov played right into the hands of the world number two.
That knocked some of the confidence out of the Bulgarian and he dropped game two of the second set, putting a weak forehand into the net.
Murray wasted two further break points in the sixth game, hitting the first long and the second into the net.
However, the Briton soon found himself serving for the contest, and although his first two match points went begging, it was third time lucky for Murray as Dimitrov put a backhand into the net.