Andy Murray reveals he considered quitting the Australian Open after father-in-law’s collapse

• Andy Murray defeated Bernard Tomic 6–4 6–4 7–6(4) to reach the last eight at the Australian Open
• The Brit’s father-in-law, Nigel Sears, had collapsed at Rod Laver Arena two days beforehand, causing him to question whether or not to stay and compete
• Murray will face Spain’s no. 8 seed, David Ferrer, for a spot in the semifinals

Andy Murray took out Bernard Tomic to make the Australian Open quarterfinals on Monday, after outside circumstances made him consider quitting the tournament.

You can watch the Australian Open live online from Monday 18 — Sunday 31 January, 2016

Regrouping after his late first week struggles — which saw him drop a set to Joao Sousa during a 6–2 3–6 6–2 6–2 third round win — the Brit was much cleaner in seeing off no. 16 seed Bernard Tomic 6–4 6–4 7–6(4). Maintaining concentration, however, was even more difficult

than it had been throughout his third round victory.

With his pregnant wife, Kim, on the other side of the world, and then these additional woes, Murray faced a tough decision of whether or not to continue competing in Melbourne.

“Obviously it depended on Nigel’s health,” Murray said of the decision.

“If the news was not positive, then there was absolutely no chance I would have kept playing. It was a tough few days. Just glad that he’s on his way home now and can be back with his family.”

Following the ‘scary’ time, Murray did well to produce a straight-sets worry over a fluctuating Bernard Tomic.

“It was a tricky match,” the British no. 1 reflected. “I got up a break I think in all of the sets. Each time he obviously got it back, so there were quite a few momentum shifts in all of the sets.

“I think the third set… he started taking a lot more chances, especially at the end of it. It wasn’t easy for me to get into a rhythm. Luckily he missed a few easy forehands in the tiebreak, and that helped me get it done in straight sets.

“But it’s obviously never straightforward against someone with his game style. He’s a different player to most.”

See also: Bernard Tomic slams Roger Federer: “You’re nowhere near Novak Djokovic’s standard right now.”

Bernard Tomic had infamously discussed his ‘good Melbourne draw’ with umpire Mohamed Leyhani in Sydney, the week before the Australian Open. But if, by any chance, he was referring to Murray when talking of that draw, he might want to reconsider. His 33 winners to a whopping 52 unforced errors had nothing on Murray’s cleaner differential of 43 winners to 22 unforced errors, while his good 10 aces to two double faults could not combat the world no. 2’s 18 aces to just one double fault.

All this while the Scot was fighting outside situations, as well as his opponent, during the match.

“Today, when I woke up I felt quite drained, quite tired. As the day sort of went on and I decided to play, I started to focus a little bit better,” Murray recounted.

“But definitely on the court tonight I was more emotional than normal. I was talking to myself after every single point almost from the first point through till the last, which was obviously not ideal. That uses up a lot of energy. It’s been a hard, hard few days. Hopefully [it] gets better.”

But the 28-year-old still had positive words for Tomic, the last man standing from the Grand Slam’s nation.

“He’s the youngest player in the top 20,” Murray pointed out.

“I think he seems to be playing more consistent tennis. Most years he makes improvements. He’s the no. 1 player in Australia, and he’ll be a top 10 player, for sure.”

Andy Murray will take on David Ferrer in the next round, after the no. 8 seeded Spaniard beat John Isner 6–4 6–4 7–5 to reach the last eight in Melbourne. Murray leads their head-to-head 12–6, and has triumphed in their last five meetings.