Murray holds sway in see-saw encounter

Andy Murray came through a topsy-turvy tie against Stanislas Wawrinka at the Rogers Cup in Toronto last night to set up a quarter-final meeting with Novak Djokovic.

The British No 1 seemed to be cruising when he took the first set, but Wawrinka stormed back in the second before Murray ground out a 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 victory. However, the Scot will need to play better if he is to upset the defending champion Djokovic, who has beaten his good friend five times in succession with Murray winning only 10 games in their last three meetings.

Murray revealed afterwards he used his previous meetings with Wawrinka to keep up his motivation in the third set. "I played really well at the start and I felt like I was hitting the ball great," he said. "Early in the second set I had a chance to break him and obviously didn't.

"He started to pick his game up and it actually got very windy and I started to miss quite a lot of balls, mishit a few – I think I missed the ball completely three or four times. But I had to stay tough in the third set because he was playing much better."

Murray broke in the first game when Wawrinka, who has been one of the revelations of the season, overcooked a forehand. The big-hitting Swiss was certainly not on top form at the start of the match and quickly found himself two breaks down as Murray established a 3-0 lead.

The pair have met on three other occasions this year, with the Scot winning both contests on hard courts but Wawrinka victorious in their last match, on clay in the Rome Masters.

Murray swiftly made it 4-0 and the reason for the ninth seed's poor start became clearer when he received treatment to his right knee. Wawrinka was fit enough to resume and finally broke his duck in the fifth game, although Murray's faultless retrieving clearly rattled him. The Swiss at least made Murray serve out the set, but that proved to be no problem.

If Wawrinka had hoped his improved end to the first set would make life easier in the second, he was initially mistaken, with Murray immediately creating two break points. However, he could not take them and it was Wawrinka who eventually claimed much-needed first blood. And it got better for the world No 10 in the next game as his first break points brought him success on the Murray delivery, with the Scot suddenly struggling with the wind.

Wawrinka's elevation to the top 10 came on the back of a run to the finals in Doha – where he lost to Murray – and Rome, while he also reached the fourth round at Wimbledon. The 23-year-old's powerful groundstrokes and attacking game were working well and he replicated what his opponent had achieved in the opening set by taking a double break.

Murray was left wondering where it had all gone wrong and a lacklustre game allowed Wawrinka to wrap up a love set. The Swiss made it seven games in a row at the start of the decider, although Murray at least made him work hard for it.

The Scot still looked out of sorts mentally and needed to save two break points before finally ending his losing run.

By now, both men were playing steadily and the match was nip and tuck. But the errors returned to Wawrinka's game in the crucial seventh game and Murray moved a break ahead.

That proved to be the fillip the Scot needed and he served out the match to love. "I've played Stan quite a few times, we're really good friends," Murray said. "In the past he's struggled a bit to close the matches out so I knew I had to keep fighting and I found some first serves when I needed them. But it's tough to stay focused when you're making so many mistakes."

A racket-smashing Andy Roddick was shocked 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 by 19-year-old Croat Marin Cilic in their third-round match. With the tennis world still rumbling about world No 1 Roger Federer's second-round defeat at the hands of Frenchman Gilles Simon a day earlier, Cilic caused another upset by disposing of the No 6 seed in under two hours.

Simon, coming off what he described as the biggest win of his career, did not suffer any let-down as he returned to the court 14 hours later and swept into the quarters with a tidy 6-3, 6-4 win against Argentine Jose Acasuso.

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