Andy Murray blows his top before reaching Australian Open quarter-finals

“He’s a fun player to watch but not fun to play,” said Murray. “He plays all the shots. He’s very unorthodox and made it tough for me. If you can, you want to close matches out when you have the opportunity. I had chances on my serve and I didn’t take them. I tried to stay focused at the start of the fourth set, got an early break and that helped.”

Robert, a carefree character who has spent most of his career on the Challenger tour, likes to use his spare time here in the casino and is not afraid to gamble on court. He has an unusual style, particularly on his backhand.

Nevertheless, he was clearly unused to dealing with a player of Murray’s class and for the most part the Scot had his opponent on the back foot.

Murray had to save a break point in the opening game, Robert failing to take his chance when he hit a forehand beyond the baseline, but from 1-1 Murray won nine games in a row to take the first set in just 25 minutes and go 4-0 up in the second. But he twice double faulted on set point, which proved to be a warning of what transpired in the third.

Despite the hiccup, Murray is through to the last eight here once again. He has won all four of his previous quarter-finals, going on to reach three finals and one semi-final, but from now onwards faces some of the biggest challenges imaginable. In his next match he will take on the winner of the fourth-round meeting between Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, while Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic would be his likely opponents in the semi-finals and final respectively. Nadal booked his place in the quarters by beating Kei Nishikori 7-6, 7-5, 7-6. The world No1 now meets Grigor Dimitrov, who beat Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Victoria Azarenka’s chances of winning the title for the third year in a row rose when Maria Sharapova followed Serena Williams out of the tournament. Sharapova, the No3 seed, made 45 unforced errors in losing 3-6, 6-4, and 6-1 to Dominika Cibulkova. Williams was beaten by Ana Ivanovic yesterday. Azarenka secured her place in the last eight with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Sloane Stephens in a match that lacked the controversy of last year’s semi-final.

Stephens, meanwhile, was asked to comment on TV pictures which had shown her smiling when Williams was beaten and then holding her arms up and trying to “high five” one of her entourage. Stephens, who has had a strained relationship with Williams, said she had been mimicking the flamboyant celebrations of Ivanovic’s entourage.