Andy Murray's chances of defending his Shanghai Masters title received a huge boost on Thursday when Rafael Nadal crashed out. Murray now takes on qualifier Matthew Ebden in the quarters.
The seeds were dropping left, right and centre on a dramatic day of third round action in Shanghai. Murray just about managed to escape the carnage, battling past Stanislas Wawrinka in three sets to keep his chances alive of claiming a hat-trick of titles.
The entire draw has opened up with most of the likely champions already out and if Murray can maintain his form then it really is his title to lose. Wawrinka beat him at the 2010 US Open and this one looked in the balance at one set all but Murray stormed to a 5-0 lead in the final set before cruising through 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
"I got myself pumped up right at the beginning of the third set," Murray explained. "I think it was important. Stan was playing very well. I was trying to control the ball, especially [in the] middle of the second set, I was really struggling. I started dictating a lot of the points with my forehand and trying to get the first strike in 'cause the court is playing very fast. That worked well."
Ebden is only ranked 124 in the world but the Aussie has been a massive surprise package over the past few weeks and he's stunned Ryan Harrison and Gilles Simon over the past few days. No one would have expected him to take out Simon but he edged a dramatic clash 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(8) after five match points.
However Murray should prove far too strong on Friday.
