Andy Murray in French Open quarters

Paris, June 5 (IANS) World No.1 Andy Murray secured his place in the last eight at the French Open with a sweep over Karen Khachanov on Monday, setting up a quarter-final clash with Asian top-ranked Kei Nishikori.

Murray beat the 21-year-old Khachanov 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and four minutes to record the 650th win of his career. He finished five aces and a total of 29 winners. Last year's finalist could bounce back immediately after suffering two breaks in the third set, reports Xinhua news agency.

"I think today was probably the best I have played overall," said the top seeded Murray.

For Khachanov, losing the match was always hard to bite: "It's never fun to lose a match, but I took a great experience from this match to play on the centre court," he said.

After experiencing a five-set thriller in the third round delayed by the rain, the eighth-seeded Nishikori regrouped himself and came back from one set down to see off Fernando Verdasco 0-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-0. The Japanese won 73 percent of net points, and he managed to overcome 46 unforced errors to cruise into the quarter-finals.

-- IANS
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( 200 Words)

2017-06-05-21:42:18