David Ferrer is safely through to the last eight of the Sony Ericsson Open after beating Julien Benneteau 7-6 6-4 in Miami.
The opening set went with serve until the fifth game, but it was surprisingly Benneteau who produced the first break.
A succession of three breaks left the game level again at 5-5 as Ferrer twice won games on the Frenchman's serve.
It took a tiebreak to separate the two and it was Ferrer who edged it 7-5 to take the first set.
The momentum looked to be with the Spaniard when he broke Benneteau in the third game of the second set, but the number 30 seed replied with a break of his own.
The contest then went with serve until the ninth game when Ferrer produced the decisive break to move 5-4 ahead.
Serving for the match, the world number five made no mistake and took the second set 6-4 to set up a quarter-final clash with either Juan Martin del Potro or Marin Cilic.
