Andy Murray survives huge scare against Fernando Verdasco to reach Paris Masters third round

World number two Murray needs to win this event and hope Novak Djokovic does not reach the final to overtake the Serbian player as the world number one, but he was pushed to the limit by Spanish veteran Verdasco, who threw caution to the wind by thumping several wonderful winners beyond the Scot on his way to taking the second set on a tiebreak.

"He was serving huge, and there was not enough on my returns so it was allowing him to dictate the points," said Murray. "But I'm enjoying playing here, and I've had good matches with French opponents here in the past," said Murray, who expects a similar challenge from France's Lucas Pouille in the last 16 on Thursday.

Murray led 2-0 in the third set before being broken back as Verdasco - who is world number 46 at the age of 32 - restored parity at 2-2 before his spirited opponent then scrambled to save two break points in levelling again at 4-4 with the tension palpable inside the Palais Omnisports in Bercy.

The Scot was being pushed to the wire by the unpredictability and variation of Verdasco as he saved two breaks after being handed a time violation by the umpire that would have seen his opponent serve for the match leading 6-5.

As it was, it was Verdasco who crumbled trying to force a third-set breaker as Murray applied real pressure in speeding 40-0 clear before a stunning lob helped him win a fourth straight point to complete the victory.

He will face Pouille for a place in the quarter-finals while Verdasco must contemplate what might have been.

Djokovic began the defence of his title with a 6-3 6-4 win over Gilles Muller earlier in the day.

2-Andy Murray (Britain) beat Fernando Verdasco (Spain) 6-3 6-7(5) 7-5

John Isner (U.S.) beat 15-David Ferrer (Spain) 7-6(4) 7-6(4)

16-Pablo Cuevas (Uruguay) beat Paolo Lorenzi (Italy) 6-1 6-2

Gilles Simon (France) beat 10-Roberto Bautista (Spain) 2-6 6-1 7-6(6)

1-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) beat Gilles Muller (Luxembourg) 6-3 6-4

11-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) beat Albert Ramos (Spain) 6-3 6-4

Jack Sock (U.S.) beat 6-Dominic Thiem (Austria) 6-2 6-4

13-Lucas Pouille (France) beat Feliciano Lopez (Spain) 6-7(1) 6-3 6-4

9-Marin Cilic (Croatia) beat Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) 7-6(7) 6-2

8-David Goffin (Belgium) beat Nicolas Mahut (France) 7-6(5) 6-3

5-Kei Nishikori (Japan) beat Viktor Troicki (Serbia) 6-2 7-5