Mason, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka and two-time Cincinnati titlist Andy Murray were a pair of come-from-behind third- round winners Thursday at the $3 million Western & Southern Open tennis event.
The third-seeded Swiss star Wawrinka dropped the first set against 14th-seeded Croat Marin Cilic before charging back for a 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 victory on the hardcourts at Lindner Family Tennis Center. Wawrinka dropped just three service points in an emphatic second set and closed out the victory in 83 minutes.
The hard-hitting Swiss also beat Cilic in Monte Carlo this year en route to his first-ever Masters 1000 title.
Wawrinka's quarterfinal opponent on Friday will be capable Frenchman Julien Benneteau, who got past struggling 6-foot-8 Pole Jerzy Janowicz 7-5, 6-1 on Day 5.
Meanwhile, the eighth-seeded former world No. 2 Murray fought back to best 11th-seeded American favorite John Isner 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) in 2 hours, 23 minutes. The ace-filled match featured 21 from Isner and 14 for Murray, who saved two match points in the 12th game of the third set before advancing.
Isner was last year's Cincinnati runner-up to Rafael Nadal.
The former U.S. Open champion Murray titled here in 2008 and 2011.
Also on Thursday, 15th-seeded fiery Italian Fabio Fognini came back to beat Taiwan's Yen-Hsun Lu 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
The winner of this Masters and U.S. Open Series tournament will earn $638,850.
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