Fourth seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares defeated the ever dangerous Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau 7-6(5), 6-4 in an hour and 33 minutes to progress to the quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Open.
Murray/Soares win the opening set via tiebreaker
Rojer and Tecau began the match by holding their serve. The second game was dominated by the unseeded pair, who grabbed the match's first break point at 30-40 with a volley at the net. Murray then used his serve to get he and Soares out of trouble and also hold serve for 1-1. They gained confidence from saving break points by earning two of their own with the Brit hitting a forehand shot to the feet of Rojer, which was dumped into the net.
The Dutch-Romanian pair then forced Murray to make an error before a good first serve got the pair out of trouble, holding for 2-1. The very next game saw Rojer/Tecau gain a break/deciding point with good fortune as Murray's serve crumbled, hitting a double fault.
Murray's serve allowed Tecau to smash the return into the body of the Brazilian who had no time to adjust his feet as he netted with Rojer/Tecau breaking. They impressively held serve for 4-1. However, they would soon run out of magic and just two games later, Murray/Soares had three break points to their name after taking control at the net.
Good reactions from Rojer saw he and Tecau save the first break point but would be broken back as Tecau would fail to return Soares' overhead. The Brit/Brazilian consolidated drawing level at 4-4. From that moment on, both teams held serve with a tiebreaker to settle the set. Set point down 6-5 in the breaker, Rojer sent a return long to gift the opening set, 7-6(5).
Murray/Soares grab crucial break, advances to the quarterfinals
Murray began the second set with a hold of serve for 1-0. He and Soares then forced put Rojer/Tecau under pressure with ended up with a double fault and a break/deciding point to the fourth seeds. A timely second serve out wide did the job as Soares return was planted long with the set starting out with two holds, 1-1.
The next three games were held with ease with the set still on serve at 3-2. The sixth game would see Murray/Soares play some good points at the net, including to earn two break points with the Brit closing down and intercepting to force the error. Soares kept his composure and finished the overhead in style to break for a 4-2 lead.
However, Rojer/Tecau wasn't quite finished and had one last saying. Up love-30, the unseeded pair targeted Soares, playing the ball low as he failed to fully reach, hitting the net with multiple break points arriving. Good reactions allowed Murray to save the first of four but Teacu was solid at the net, reacting to every ball before eventually forcing the error, breaking back and consolidating for 4-4.
The Brit/Brazilian held their next serve quite impressively to then pile pressure on Rojer/Tecau. The Dutch played a weak game error-filled game which allowed Murray/Soares to have three break/match points. A mishit return from Murray landed in and finished the match as the fourth seeds advanced to the quarterfinals, where their run ended last year.