London - Britain's Andy Murray survived another stern examination from Cyprus's Marcos Baghdatis to reach the Olympic quarter-finals with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 win on Wednesday.
Murray had started his bid for Olympic gold in superb form, but Baghdatis pushed him hard in a four-set clash that went late into the evening in the Wimbledon third round last month and the world number 44 proved a tough opponent again at the same stage of the Games.
In windy conditions on Centre Court, Murray looked in danger of a shock defeat as the world number four was out-played in the first set.
But the Scot, beaten in this year's Wimbledon final by Roger Federer, finally found enough momentum to edge through to a last eight clash with Spanish 11th seed Nicolas Almagro.
Baghdatis broke Murray in the opening game of the match, unleashing a brilliant forehand winner on break-point that left the Scot rooted to the spot.
Although Murray responded with a break of his own in the fourth game, Baghdatis was playing some great stuff and he broke to love to take a 4-3 lead. Baghdatis's subtle game can make him a tricky proposition and Murray had no answer as the former Australian Open finalist served out the set.
But Baghdatis had faded after initially troubling Murray in their last meeting and once again the Scot was able to wrestle the match away from his opponent.
It was as though the first set had never happened as Murray reeled off three breaks to take the second in emphatic fashion.
Baghdatis had gone from dominant to dismal in the space of 20 minutes and Murray kept the pressure on with another break to take the final set.
Results on Wednesday:
Men
Singles
Third round
Roger Federer (1), Switzerland, def. Denis Istomin, Uzbekistan, 7-5, 6-3.
John Isner (10), United States, def. Janko Tipsarevic (7), Serbia, 7-5, 7-6 (16/14).
Kei Nishikori (15), Japan, def. David Ferrer (4), Spain, 6-0, 3-6, 6-4.
Juan Martin del Potro (8), Argentina, def. Gilles Simon (12), France, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.
Nicolas Almagro (11), Spain, def. Steve Darcis, Belgium, 7-5, 6-3.
Andy Murray (3), Britain, def. Marcos Baghdatis, Cyprus, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (5), France, def. Feliciano Lopez, Spain, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.
Novak Djokovic (2), Serbia, def. Lleyton Hewitt, Australia, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.
Doubles
Second Round
Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram, Israel, def. Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka (6), Switzerland, 1-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3.
Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig, Croatia, def. Johan Brunstrom and Robert Lindstedt, Sweden, 6-3, 6-2.
Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares, Brazil, def. Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek (5), Czech Republic, 1-6, 6-4, 24-22.
Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2), France, def. Leander Paes and Vishnu Vardhan, India, 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 6-3.
Women
Singles
Third Round
Victoria Azarenka (1), Belarus, def. Nadia Petrova (16), Russia, 7-6 (8/6), 6-4.
Angelique Kerber (7), Germany, def. Venus Williams, United States, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5).
Serena Williams (4), United States, def. Vera Zvonareva (13), Russia, 6-1, 6-0.
Caroline Wozniacki (8), Denmark, def. Daniela Hantuchova, Slovakia, 6-4, 6-2.
Kim Clijsters, Belgium, def. Ana Ivanovic (11), Serbia, 6-3, 6-4.
Maria Sharapova (3), Russia, def. Sabine Lisicki (15), Germany, 6-7 (8/10), 6-4, 6-3.
Petra Kvitova (6), Czech Republic, def. Flavia Pennetta, Italy, 6-3, 6-0.
Maria Kirilenko (14), Russia, def. Julia Goerges, Germany, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3.
Doubles
Second Round
Chuang Chia-Jung and Hsieh Su-Wei, Taiwan, def. Flavia Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone (7), Italy, 6-7 (3/7), 7-5, 6-4.
Quarter-finals
Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond (1), United States, def. Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina (6), Russia, 6-3, 6-3.
Mixed Doubles
First Round
Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi (1), Belarus, def. Angelique Kerber and Philipp Petzschner, Germany, 6-2, 6-2.
Lisa Raymond and Mike Bryan (3), United States, def. Sara Errani and Andreas Seppi, Italy, 7-5, 6-3.
Gisela Dulko and Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina, def. Elena Vesnina and Mikhail Youzhny, Russia, 6-3, 7-5.
Samantha Stosur and Lleyton Hewitt, Australia, def. Agnieszka Radwanska and Marcin Matkowski (4), Poland, 6-3, 6-3.
Roberta Vinci and Daniele Bracciali, Italy, def. Sofia Arvidsson and Robert Lindstedt, Sweden, 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10/8).