Andy Murray battles past Florian Mayer in Madrid
Mayer was then made to rue his missed opportunities as after he'd passed up five set points, Murray seized the initiative with thunderous crosscourt forehand at 12-11.
World No.3 Andy Murray needed two tie-breaks to take his place in the third round at the Madrid Masters as he was pushed all the way by Florian Mayer before eventually triumphing 7-6 (13/11), 7-6(7/3).
Murray, who was knocked out by Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round of his only previous outing on the clay so far this year at Monte Carlo, struggled to get to terms with the German's big serve in the first-set as neither player was broken before the tie-break.
Mayer was then made to rue his missed opportunities as after he'd passed up five set points, Murray seized the initiative with thunderous crosscourt forehand at 12-11.
Mayer reacted well and made the first break in the match to move 3-0 ahead in the second.
However, the World No.26 stumbled when serving at 4-2 and Murray broke back before both men held to take the game into a second tie-break.
And the Scot was far more comfortable the second time around as he soared into a 4-1 lead before serving out the match at the first time of asking.