Andy Murray boosted his chances of qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals after beating Canada's Vasek Pospisil 6-4 6-4 in the second round of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.
Murray, who is currently ranked number 10 in the world, needs to climb inside the top eight to make the end-of-year showpiece in London next month.
The Scot changed his schedule, opting to play in the Vienna tournament for the first time in a bid to secure valuable rankings points following a disappointing defeat to David Ferrer in the third round of the Shanghai Masters last week.
The hard-fought victory over Pospisil means Murray will now face Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff in the quarter-finals.
The 27-year-old was never at his free-flowing best in the contest, handing Pospisil chances in both sets to take the initiative but Murray made his experience count to close out a straight-sets victory.
World number nine David Ferrer is also through after beating Tobias Kamke earlier in the day but Murray will take heart after eighth-ranked Milos Raonic lost to Ricardas Berankis in the second round of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.
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