Acapulco (Mexico), Mar 1 (IANS): Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro defeated Spain's David Ferrer 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in an epic battle to move to the quarter-finals of the Mexico Open tennis tournament here.

In a match lasting 2 hours and 24 minutes on Wednesday night, the two players fought it out with a fine display of tennis on the centre court in what was arguably the best match of the tournament yet, reports Efe.

Del Potro, seeded sixth, broke Ferrer's serve in the 10th game of the first set to take it 6-4, but Ferrer broke back in the second, only to be broken again by the Argentine to level scores at 4-4.

Ferrer showed his fighting spirit by immediately breaking back and then taking the set 6-4 on his serve.

The third set saw a fierce clash, marking the match as the best of the competition yet, with Ferrer saving a break point in the fourth game and Del Potro finally getting the break in the sixth.

However, with Del Potro leading 5-3 and serving for the match, Ferrer refused to bow down and managed to get two break points with brilliant returns and crafty play.

Del Potro used his lethal serve to win straight points and get an advantage, before forcing the Spaniard to hit long to win the match.

In the other match, South Korean Hyeon Chung beat US player Ernesto Escobedo 6-3, 6-1 to set up a last-eight clash with South African Kevin Anderson, who defeated Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-4.