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Andy Murray straight sets winner over Adrian Mannarino in Indian Wells

Andy Murray Indian Wells
Image: Andy Murray: Overcame Adrian Mannarino

Andy Murray overcame some early struggles to power into the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

Murray dropped an early service game in his fourth round clash with French left-hander Adrian Mannarino, but he soon bounced back and it was plain sailing from there on as he eased through 6-3 6-3.

Victory meant Murray equalling Tim Henman's record for the most career wins by a British player in the open era - the pair are tied on 496 apiece, although Murray's wins have come in more than 100 fewer games.

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Andy Murray equalled Tim Henman’s British record of 496 career wins

Mannarino put his all into the opening five games, which seemed to go on for ages, and he got his reward in the fifth game with a break of the Murray service after a series of deuces.

But Murray battled straight back to level with a break and he would break Mannarino again in a run of three straight games before moving within a set of a place in the last-eight.

The pattern remained constant in the second set with Murray continuing to trouble Mannarino on his serve, with mistakes starting to pile up for the Frenchman, who more than once castigated himself after a wayward shot.

That's one of the few records Tim still had over me. I wasn't actually aware of the record so that's nice. Hopefully I can get through the next round and get past him.
Murray on Henman record

A wasted break chance at 2-2 would prove to be the beginning of the end for Mannarino, who missed wildly on a forehand in the sixth game to hand Murray a 4-2 lead.

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By now Murray was in full flight, and another Mannarino error at 5-3 allowed him to convert a second match point and seal what had turned into a convincing win.

The British No 1 will next play Spaniard Feliciano Lopez. who was a 6-4 7-6 winner over fifth seed Kei Nishikori.

"It was a very tough match, he's playing very well this year and he's got a very tricky game," Murray told Sky Sports.

"He's a lefty but he has a very flat backhand and a short take-back on his forehand so it's hard to read.

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Watch Andy Murray's superb backhand winner against Adrian Mannarino

"He moves well and he has good hands around the net - in both sets though he played one or two loose games which helped me and I stayed solid throughout.

"I was frustrated to get broken in the first set, I thought I started well but he came out firing. I tried to make a lot of balls and he didn't play a great game in the next game and that stopped his momentum.

"I started to feel more comfortable after that and went for my shots more."

On equalling Henman's record, Murray joked: "That's one of the few records Tim still had over me. I wasn't actually aware of the record so that's nice. Hopefully I can get through the next round and get past him."

ATP Masters Tennis

You can watch live coverage of Andy Murray's quarter-final against Spain's Feliciano Lopez at Indian Wells on Sky Sports.

Get involved on Twitter @SkySportsTennis, and don't forget, you can watch the tennis without a Sky Subscription for £6.99 with a Now TV Day Pass.

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