Murray sees off Pospisil to reach Rotterdam quarters

The Scot, in his first event since losing to Novak Djokovic in the final of the Australian Open, saved a set point in the second set after briefly losing his focus.

Former champion Murray, 27, angrily smashed his racket after double-faulting to fall 5-3 down but Pospisil could not convert his one set point when he served at 5-4.

Murray will play Frenchman Gilles Simon, the eighth seed, next after he beat compatriot Jeremy Chardy.

"Gilles is a tough opponent. He's a strong runner with perfect timing," Murray said. "I'll need to serve better than today."

Defending champion Tomas Berdych also reached the quarter-finals with a 6-0 3-6 6-3 defeat of Italian Andreas Seppi.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar)