Andy Murray survived a scare to book his place in the last four of the Cincinnati Masters, with a three-sets victory over unseeded Frenchman Julien Benneteau.

Murray, defending champion in Cincinnati, will now face either world number one Roger Federer or Australian Lleyton Hewitt in the semi finals.

The world number two was uncharacteristically out of sorts in the first set and he let an early lead slip, only to roar back in the second set before storming through the decider to seal a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 win.

Murray took a 3-2 lead in the opening set, moving a break up with seven consecutive points, only to drastically lose concentration and hand the first set to Benneteau, ranked 55th in the world.

Benneteau, who had taken three hours to win an epic encounter against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez on Thursday, continued to attack and was helped as Murray continued to misfire.

Murray was visibly distraught and his mood worsened when a poor forehand gave the Frenchman a 2-0 lead in the second set.

But the Scot finally broke brake in a spectacular 53-shot rally which finally ended Benneteau’s resolve.

And Murray broke twice more to seal level the match, taking the second set 6-3, before steamrolling through the final set to reach the last four.