Tennis:Andy Murray survived a second-set meltdown to battle to a 6-2 0-6 6-3 victory over 15th seed Gael Monfils at the Rogers Cup in Toronto.
The defending champion and fourth seed must reach the final of the event to preserve his world number four ranking.
And he moved into the quarter-finals after coming out on top in a hard-fought, topsy-turvy encounter.
Both men produced attacking play from the outset but it was Murray who was more controlled and consistent.
The world number four broke his French opponent in the first game before holding for a 2-0 lead, already looking in full control.
The pair were producing some enthralling rallies but Monfils was making more mistakes and a shot into the net gave Murray a 3-0 lead.
The Scot was playing some good shots, one forehand was hit down the line to perfection as he won the fourth game before Monfils finally got on the board for 4-1.
The world number 15 was showing great athleticism around the court but he was still guilty of producing unforced errors.
Murray was very sharp in attack and defence, mixing up his shots, but a number of mistakes when serving for the first set at 5-2 gave Monfils three break points which he failed to convert in the face of some aggressive play.
He eventually put a shot into the net as Murray took the set 6-2 in a little over 40 minutes.
The start of the second set appeared to be heading in the same direction but Monfils managed to hold serve before breaking as Murray began to produce a number of errors.
The 23-year-old's game seemed to have deserted him as he made continual errors and with nothing working he fell to 4-0 down which soon became 5-0 as a confident Monfils produced a rasping shot.
Monfils then made it six games in a row when he worked Murray around the court for 6-0 and a deciding set.
Murray broke in the first game before holding for 2-0 with Monfils receiving attention to his shoulder in an injury time-out.
A second break saw Murray to 4-1 before Monfils broke back, but the Scot seized the initiative again to round out the victory in two hours and five minutes.