Andy Murray survived a major scare in the third round of the Indian Wells Masters this evening, coming from a set down to beat Jiri Vesely (2)6-7 6-4 6-4.
Murray made a perfect start to the match when he found himself with three break points in the very first game, and he managed to take the third of them to gain an early advantage.
He appeared to be in complete control of proceedings shortly afterwards when he broke again, taking a 3-0 lead in the first set.
However, Vesely fought back in the very next game, taking advantage of the second of two break points to give himself a glimmer of hope.
The world number 77 was forced to cling on to his own serve in a mammoth seventh game before gaining the crucial second break in the 10th game to level the scores at 5-5.
Both players held serve to force a tie-break, in which Vesely stunned Murray by winning four points against the serve to win it 7-2.
The Czech began the second set in a similar vein, breaking the world number six in the opening game to take control of the match.
Murray gave himself a lifeline in the sixth game by earning a break back, but his hard work was undone straight away as Vesely once again won against the serve to take a 4-3 lead.
However, the fourth seed fought back once again to level things before clinching the crucial second set 6-4 at the third time of asking.
The deciding third set began in an increasingly familiar rhythm as Vesely broke Murray in the opening game before the Scot restored parity straight away.
The Czech broke his opponent yet again to take control of the set, but Murray was able to claw his way back into the match once more in the eighth game to make it 4-4.
The Scot then held his own serve before taking advantage of a third match point in the final game to finally see off the spirited Vesely and move into the fourth round.
Barney Corkhill
