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Murray closes in on 500th win

Mar 29, 2015; Key Biscayne, FL, USA; Andy Murray hits a backhand against Santiago Giraldo (not pictured) on day seven of the Miami Open at Crandon Park Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports (Reuters)

By Simon Evans MIAMI (Reuters) - Britain’s Andy Murray moved into the last 16 at the Miami Open after beating Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo 6-3 6-4 on Sunday to move him within one win of 500 victories on the ATP Tour. Murray would become just the ninth active player and only the 46th man in the open era to achieve the milestone should he defeat South African Kevin Anderson in the next round at Key Biscayne. The Scot would also be the first British player to reach 500 wins in the open era. “It's nice, because when you see, the list of the players that have won that many matches, there aren’t loads,” said Murray. “I obviously want to try and win more, and hopefully still have quite a few years ahead of me left to add to that number. But it's a lot of wins. It's not easy these days to win that many matches, so that's a good sign.” Murray’s latest win, in bright sunshine on stadium court, was a relatively straightforward matter although Giraldo’s free swinging approach in the second set brought the contest alive a bit. Giraldo battled back from 5-1 down before Murray wrapped up the win in 84 minutes. Second seed Rafa Nadal is in action against fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco later on Sunday. (Reporting by Simon Evans, editing by Gene Cherry)