Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko conceded to Britain’s Andy Murray 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 at the Indian Wells Masters.

Murray stepped up his bid for his third career title with a win over Russian fourth seed Davydenko on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals at the US$5.3 million hardcourt tournament.

“I knew it was the first point, and I wasn’t going to waste one because I saw it was wide,” Murray said.

“I felt I played the big points better. He surprised me at the start by coming to the net a lot. This was about me playing a really good match and managing to come through,” he said.

Davydenko, who had a 2-1 career record against Murray going into Wednesday’s contest, committed 42 unforced errors.

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