Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray advance to quarterfinals at Dubai Championships

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afael Nadal and Andy Murray reached the quarterfinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Wednesday.

The second-ranked Nadal cruised past Mikhail Ledovskikh of Russia 6-4, 6-0, while Murray defeated Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5).

“Today, I didn’t know this player, but he has a very good potential,” Nadal said of his 171st-ranked opponent.

Murray, who stopped top-ranked Roger Federer on Monday in the first round, led 6-2 in the third-set tiebreaker but needed four match points to win. Verdasco finally hit the ball long after a lengthy rally.

“It was a pretty ugly point, actually,” Murray said. “I was just making sure I kept the ball in play, because I think he’s the sort of guy if you can make a lot of balls against him, keep him in the back of the court, he can get a bit impatient, and luckily he missed one at the end.”

Murray said he had to overcome a sore knee in the second set and gusty wind.