Andy Murray into Sydney Tennis Classic last eight with victory over Nikoloz Basilashvili
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Murray was often on the defensive against the big-hitting Basilashvili
Andy Murray overcame Georgia's world number 23 Nikoloz Basilashvili in three sets to make the last eight in Sydney.
Britain's former world number one, 34, prevailed 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 in an encounter that stretched over three and a quarter hours.
The Scot wasted set point in the first and another four in the second before winning the tie-break to pull level.
Basilashvili could have extended the match further, but Murray saw off break point to serve out the deciding set.
Murray, who accepted a wildcard to next week's Australian Open, was cheered as he continues to improve on the first-round defeat in Melbourne that marked the start of his 2022 season.
"It was an unbelievably tough match. He's hitting the ball consistently bigger than anyone on the tour," Murray said after a match in which Basilashvili hit 59 winners to his own tally of 24.
"I was having to do a lot of defending, a lot of running. My legs stood up well, really well in the last set."
Murray, a five-time runner-up at the Australian Open, has not played at the tournament since a 2019 appearance that seemed set to be his last before major hip surgery.
Evans (left), currently 26th in the world, reached a career-high ranking of 22 in September
Earlier in the day, British number two Dan Evans continued his winning start to 2022 with a comfortable 6-2 6-3 win over Spain's Pedro Martinez.
The 31-year-old third seed was dominant in all areas, converting all four of his break points to snuff out world number 61 Martinez's hopes.
Evans will play either Serbia's Dusan Lajovic or American Melbourne runner-up Maxime Cressy in the quarter-finals, while Murray will take on Belgium's David Goffin, who he beat in the decisive rubber of Britain's Davis Cup final win in 2015.
Evans started 2022 with a clean sweep of his five matches at the ATP Cup.
He beat Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff, Canada's Denis Shapovalov and American John Isner in singles as well as pairing with Jamie Murray for two doubles victories.
He is ranked 26th in the world and will be looking to carry his recent form into next week's Australian Open, where he has not been beyond the second round since 2017.
Katie Swan will not join compatriots Evans and Murray in the main draw at Melbourne Park after losing 6-0 7-5 to Bulgaria's Viktoriya Tomova in qualifying.
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