Emotional Murray grinds out another marathon win in DC

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Washington, August 3: An emotional Andy Murray came through another gruelling test against Marius Copil to book his place in the quarterfinals of the Citi Open.

Former world number one Murray, who skipped Wimbledon as he continues his return from a hip injury, has now ground out a trio of three-set victories in Washington DC this week.

And as he did against Mackenzie McDonald in his opening clash, the Briton was required to fight back from a set down versus Copil to triumph 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-4).

A drained Murray could then be seen sobbing into a towel for two or three minutes, overcome by emotion after a difficult match and his return to the last eight of an ATP World Tour tournament for the first time since Wimbledon 2017.

After rain delays messed with the schedule, forcing Murray and Copil to play long into the night, the Romanian rallied to take the first set in a sparsely populated arena, improbably battling back from 5-0 down in the tie-break.

Murray found life easier in the second, swiftly drawing level, but Copil was soon piling on the pressure again.

Another breaker was required to decide the match, yet Copil's backhand into the net handed Murray victory after a three-hour marathon.

The match finally concluded after 3am local time, the latest finish in Citi Open history, but Murray will have to recover quickly as he now faces Alex De Minaur later on Friday.