Top seed Andy Murray takes on 10th seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the Men's singles quarter-final of 2017 Barcelona Open at the Pista Rafa Nadal court on Friday.
The world number one defeated 16th seed Feliciano Lopez of Spain in his R16 match, which was also his first outing as he received a first-round bye and benefited from the withdrawal of his second-round opponent Bernard Tomic, yesterday.
On the other hand, Ramos-Vinolas continued his impressive run on clay this season by edging past sixth seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 to set up a repeat of Monte Carlo Maters R16 match with Murray.
Murray looked a bit rusty during his straight sets win over Lopez yesterday. Despite having a 5-3 lead in the first set, the Scot was broken but he quickly broke back to sway away from danger.
The 29-year-old, who accepted a wildcard entry into the ongoing tournament, needs to step up his game as he faces an uphill task against in-form Ramos-Vinolas, who got the better of him in their first ever meeting at Monte Carlo Masters earlier this month. Murray was well placed to ease into the quarter-final after he was having a 4-0 lead in the decider against the Spaniard, but he conceded six straight games in a dramatic collapse to bow out of the tournament.
Meanwhile, Ramos-Vinolas, who finished as runner-up in Monte Carlo has had a successful run on clay this season, as he also reached the final in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The local player will be determined to assert his dominance over the world number one once again and his recent form on the red dirt and the crowd support make him favourite to progress further in the tournament.
