Murray qualifies for quarter-finals of Monte Carlo Masters

British tennis star Andy Murray qualified on Thursday for the quarter-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters after a painstaking win against Frenchman Benoit Paire in the third round of the tennis tournament.

The second ranked Murray won 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 against the world's 22nd ranked player in a match that lasted for more than two and a half hours, reports Efe.

The Scot will now face, in the last eight, Milos Raonic of Canada, ranked 12th in the world, after the latter eliminated the Bosnian Damir Dzumhur in a match that ended 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5).

Raonic also needed just over two and a half hours to beat qualifier Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5). The 10th-seeded Canadian fired 12 aces and won five points more than his opponent as he beat Dzumhur for the second time in two months, having also defeated the 23 year old in Miami.

Murray found himself a set down and a double break down, before clawing his way back to level the match. Paire had the chance to serve for victory after breaking Murray in the ninth game of the deciding set, but Murray immediately broke back and won the final three games of the match to claim a hard-fought victory.