Summary Andy Murray beat Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-3 in the fourth round of the Indian Wells ATP Masters.
INDIAN WELLS (AFP) - Fourth seeded Andy Murray, trying to rebound from a subpar 2014, defeated Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-3 in the fourth round of the Indian Wells ATP Masters on Wednesday.
The 27-year-old Scot s game is gathering steam as he cruised into the quarter-finals of the joint WTA and ATP hardcourt event with a 90-minute victory.
"I thought I played well. It was a tricky match," Murray said. "He s played well this year, had a few good tournaments.
"He s a tough guy to play against. Very unorthodox style. He has a very, very good backhand cross court. Hits it very low over the net, very flat. He can rush you, take your time away."
Murray moves on to face Spain s Feliciano Lopez who upset fifth seed Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) on centre court.
Murray ended his historic 2013, where he became the first British man to win Wimbledon in 77 years, when he had back surgery. The rehab took time and he was not the same player in 2014.
But Murray began to get back into form at the end of last year and is eager to win his first Indian Wells title this week. His best finish is runner-up in 2009, when he lost to Rfael Nadal in the final.
He was runner up at January s Australian Open and lost in the quarter-finals this year in Dubai and Rotterdam.
He attributed his success this week to being able to keep his opponents guessing.
"I made it difficult for my opponents in all of my matches," Murray said. "You know, that s important. I haven t given up too many free points. I have made a lot of returns in play."
Nishikori s defeat marked the first time this year that the 2014 US Open runner-up failed to reach at least the quarter-finals of an ATP tournament.
Lopez blasted 12 aces, won 82 percent of his first serve points and broke Nishikori twice in the one hour, 35 minute match.
Nishikori was playing his second straight Spaniard after a hard fought 6-7 (6/8), 6-1, 6-4 win over Fernando Verdasco in the previous round.
Nishikori said the turning-point was late in the second set.
"I really had one bad game at 5-4. That s all that matters in today s match," Nishikori said.
"Until then I was playing better. I was, you know, dominating the strokes.
"He was hitting good serves, but I had all the chances."
Lopez leveled his head-to-head record with Nishikori at three matches apiece. The Spaniard said he played some of his best tennis of the tournament.
"The match was very close and finally I found a way to play better than him," said Lopez.
"I was mixing it up. I was playing great from the baseline and I was hitting great for the first time in Indian Wells. I am pleased to be in the quarters."
In other matches Wednesday, ninth seed Tomas Berdych beat Czech compatriot Lukas Rosol 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals, where he will face either second-seeded Roger Federer or American Jack Sock.
World number one and top seed Novak Djokovic was to battle American John Isner.
World number one Serena Williams headlined women s quarter-final action, taking on Switzerland s Timea Bacsinszky.
The winner of that match will face world number three Simona Halep of Romania, who rallied to defeat Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.
