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 The Briton, four-times a runner-up at Melbourne Park, was close to
exasperation after being broken four times by the unorthodox
Australian world number 17 but dug deep when it mattered to reach
the last eight for the seventh year in a row.
"It was a tough match, both of us had our chances," Murray said.
"Bernie fought his way to the end and made it difficult for me. It
was a scrappy match, I don't think either of us played our best
tennis at the same time."
Murray had endured a tricky couple of days since Nigel Sears, the
father of his pregnant wife Kim, collapsed in the stands on Rod
Laver Arena and was taken to hospital while the Scot was playing his
third round tie on Margaret Court Arena.
As Sears, the coach of Ana Ivanovic, has since been discharged and
cleared to join his daughter in England, Murray hoped he would have
a calmer preparation for his quarter-final encounter with Spanish
eighth seed David Ferrer.
"Last few days there's been a lot of emotions, things changing a lot
in my head," the 28-year-old said.
"It was good to get through today and I'll rest up and hopefully
I'll be a bit more relaxed for the next one."
Relaxed was clearly not the word for his demeanor on Monday as
Tomic's occasionally brilliant shot-making foxed him.
Murray enjoyed success with the drop shot early in the match but
that started to wane in a match that was always interesting if never
turning into a real contest.
Tomic, 23, showed flashes of the quality that has had Australia
raving about his potential since his early teens but was unable to
maintain the level of his performance for sufficiently long periods
to cause an upset.
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Murray, who fired 18 aces and 43 winners, clinched a topsy turvy
third set in the tiebreak when Tomic went long with a return after
two and a half hours on court.
"I just felt I was very uncomfortable," Tomic, who dropped serve
three times in the first set, said.
"While on paper it looked like a close match it was uncomfortable
for me. I didn't play the game the way I wanted to but he didn't let
me."
After Johanna Konta earlier earned her place in the quarter-finals,
Murray's victory means Britain will have a presence in the last
eight of both draws of a grand slam for the first time since the
1977 Australian Open.
Murray has his eye firmly fixed on becoming Britain's first men's
champion in Australia since Fred Perry in 1934 but he must get past
Ferrer to do it.
"He always makes you work hard," he said of the 2013 semi-finalist.
"It will be a tough match."
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Ed Osmond and Martyn
Herman)
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