British fourth seed Andy Murray clawed his way into the French Open quarter-finals on Tuesday with a courageous 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 defeat of Serbian 15th seed Victor Troicki. Murray's participation in the match, held over from Monday, had been threatened by an ankle injury, but he battled back from 5-2 down in the deciding set to set up a last-eight clash with unseeded Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela.
"It was an incredible comeback," said Murray, who went over on his right ankle in his third-round match with Germany's Michael Berrer. "I didn't know how my ankle would react. I had to battle. Things fell in my favour, so I'm happy. "I had to attack from the start to turn things around today. I was a bit too hesitant at the start. Then I started to go for my shots a bit more and he got a bit nervous."
Victory keeps Murray on course for a semi-final meeting with top seed and defending champion Rafael Nadal, as he bids to go beyond the last eight at Roland Garros for the first time in his career. The three-time Grand Slam runner-up has a 6-1 record against Chela, the world number 34, and beat him at Roland Garros in both 2009 and 2010. "I feel really disappointed now," said a crestfallen Troicki. "I was just two points away (from victory) on my serve. He played it risky, I was a bit nervous, and he took advantage of it."
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