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Enlarge PhotoAndy Murray of Britain hits a return to Ernests Gulbis of Latvia during their third... Britain's world number four Andy Murray needed a final set tiebreak to beat Latvia's Ernests Gulbis 4-6 6-3 7-6, while Roger Federer enjoyed a free ride into the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Masters on Thursday.Scot Murray struggled in the first set against the occasionally inspired but often erratic Gulbis but fought back well in the second with the Latvian missing out on break point in the third game and hurling his racket to the ground three times before it was fully disfigured.
Gulbis had another good chance to get a firm grip on the match when he had break point in the eighth game of the third set but skied his shot high into the air and Murray held to make it 4-4.
With both players looking tired in the early afternoon heat another decisive moment went against Gulbis when, at 3-1 down, he had a straightforward smash opportunity but was dazzled by the sun and could only tap the ball into the net.
Murray gathered himself and won the tiebreak 7-4 to move into the quarter-finals where he will face American Mardy Fish.
Federer, who could set up a repeat of last week's Toronto final with Murray, sauntered into the last eight despite not having played a single set of tennis.
Less than 24 hours after his second round opponent, Uzbek Denis Istomin, retired hurt while trailing 5-2 in the first set, the Swiss's third round opponent Philipp Kohlschreiber pulled out with a shoulder injury.
As the third seed also received a bye in the first round, he will appear fresh and rested when he faces either David Ferrer or Nikolay Davydenko for a place in the semis.
Fish beat France's Richard Gasquet 7-5 6-2 to continue his good run of form and the 36th ranked American will fancy his chances of a win against Murray.
The pair are 3-3 from their six meetings, with Fish winning the last two matches at Queen's and Miami.
(Reporting by Simon Evans)
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