Andy Murray won consecutive singles matches for the first time since undergoing hip surgery in January while U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu won her 15th in a row at the China Open on Wednesday.
The 32-year-old Murray beat British countryman Cameron Norrie 7-6 (6), 6-7 (4), 6-1 to make the singles quarterfinals at a tournament for the first time in 12 months.
Murray will face either top-seeded Dominic Thiem or Chinese wild-card entry Zhang Zhizhen on Friday.
After splitting the first two sets on tiebreakers, former top-ranked Murray pulled away in the third, winning 77% of first serve points to improve to 4-0 against Norrie.
“I decided like, if I want to win, I have to go and take risks and come to the net, try and finish the points quicker, which I did. I did that well at the end,” Murray said.
Also Wednesday, fourth-seeded Karen Khachanov beat Jeremy Chardy, and eighth-seeded Fabio Fognini beat Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-4.
In the women’s tournament, No. 6-ranked Andreescu beat Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-3, 7-6 (5) in a second-round match. It was a rematch of a U.S. Open quarterfinal, which Andreescu won en route to her first career Grand Slam title last month.
Andreescu, a 19-year-old Canadian, will face Jennifer Brady in the next round. Brady earlier beat fellow American Madison Keys 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Top-seeded Ash Barty advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-2 win over Zheng Saisai of China.
The French Open champion saved five of five break points to record her 50th win of the year.
“It’s a new challenge, new circumstances, different environment,” Barty said. “But I’m always up for the challenge, so I’m happy to be here.”
Petra Kvitova defeated Belinda Bencic 6-3, 6-3 to reach her fifth career China Open quarterfinal.q
