Murray takes clay victory to reach quarters at Italian Open

ROME: Andy Murray, who quit the event with back problems a year ago and eventually required surgery, closed out a welcome win over Jurgen Melzer with his sixth ace for a 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 result which puts him into his second straight clay quarter-final after Madrid a week ago.

Murray now owns a perfect 7-0 record over Austrian Melzer, who is back on court after shoulder problems.

The winner spent just under one and three-quarter hours on the clay as his confidence on his least favourite surface starts to improve.

Canadian eighth seed Milos Raonic reached his first Rome quarter-final with a defeat of French 11th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.

Jeremy Chardy, who beat Federer 24 hours earlier, kept up his momentum by defeating Ivan Dodig 6-3, 6-2.