Murray overcomes resilient Russell to reach last 16 in California

ANDY Murray huffed and puffed but eventually overcame a resilient Michael Russell to book his place in the last 16 of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Centre.

HARD WORK: Andy Murray's relief is clear to see after the Scot battles past a dogged Michael Russell in the third rounds at the Indian Wells Masters (Getty Images)

The world number four led from the off in California, breaking in the opening game before gradually grinding his opponent down in a 6-3, 7-5 victory.

But Murray was far from perfect and looked increasingly hot and bothered between points in the heat of the Californian midday sun.

The Scot has struggled to match his level from January's Australian Open and became frustrated as world number 68 Russell refused to roll over.

But while 31-year old Russell battled and harried, there was little the American could do to stem the tide after letting three break points go begging in the first set.

A brief rally at the end of the second set saw Russell finally break serve and take the match into a 12th game but Murray broke once more to seal the match.

While few expected the world number 68 to test the Scot, Murray insisted he had been expecting a tough encounter against the lively American.

"He hits from the back of the court and he's very quick and he just made things difficult for me," said Murray.

"He had a good match with Juan Martin Del Potro in the Australian Open this year and I knew he was going to fight hard and be difficult to play against.

"I started really well but I was doing quite a lot of running and he started making me move more. He just played well. That's why it was so frustrating."

The Scot raced into the lead in Indian Wells, breaking to love in the first game before sealing his first two service games in authoritative style with four aces.

Russell began to rally as the set wore on, finding added bite in his ground strokes to force errors from the Scot and fashion three consecutive break points at 3-2 down.

But the American couldn't grab his chance to level terms and Murray recovered his precision on serve to save the game before taking advantage of a woeful Russell service game to capture the first set.

Murray started the second set as he did the first, racing through the opening two games to set up an early advantage but once again a dogged Russell began to test the Scot.

The American missed another break point in the third game but the cracks began to widen in Murray's temperament and with the Scot serving for the set at 5-3, Russell finally captured an elusive break.

But as much as it spurred the American on, the loss of serve was a wake up call for the Scot and he reacted accordingly, regaining his composure to play a patient game at 6-5 and claim a decisive break.

Murray, who lost to world number three Rafael Nadal in the final in California 12 months ago, will Nicolas Almagro in the last 16 after the Spaniard defeated USA's James Blake in three sets.

Meanwhile, world number one Roger Federer was sent crashing out by Marcos Bagdahtis.