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Andy Murray survived his first scare at this year's Australian Open to beat Stephane Robert - and will now face great rival Roger Federerin the last eight of the competition.
The British number one prevailed 6-1 6-2 6-7 (6-8) 6-2 in two hours and 42 minutes to reach the last eight.
Two-time Grand Slam winner Murray appeared to be coasting to victory at Melbourne Park when storming into a two-set lead but Robert, ranked world number 119, came back to take the third.
Murray's frustration at his inability to see off the French 'lucky loser' boiled over and he smashed his racquet in frustration.
But Robert's resistance was short-lived and Murray secured a fifth successive Melbourne quarter-final appearance.
"He's a fun player to watch but not to play against,"said Murray of Robert. "He made it very tricky for me, he's very unorthodox. You want to, if you can, close these matches out when you have the opportunity."
He added: "I think I had three or four match points on my own serve. I tried to stay focused at the beginning of the fourth set, got an early break and that helped."
Four-time competition winner Federer later defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3 7-5 6-4 to set-up a mouth-watering quarter-final clash against Murray.
Federer beat Murray in the final of the same competition in 2010 and said he was relishing the chance to lock horns again with the Scot.
"I'm looking forward to playing against Andy," said the 17-time Grand Slam champion. "I hope physically he's doing well."
The Swiss superstar added: "We always have good matches. He has a much better backhand than I have so it's up to me to figure it out."
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