Under constant pressure from an aggressive foe, del Potro had some trouble from Murray's drop shots and wound up making far more unforced errors, 43-28.
Del Potro has played a light schedule as he focuses on looking after his body but he was a doubt for the tournament because of back and shoulder injuries and struggled with a groin problem on Thursday. There he stayed until the umpire called time.
Cilic is yet to surrender a set at Roland Garros this year and has failed to lose more than three games in any set played, which serves as an indication as to the kind of form he's enjoying as he seeks glory in Paris. Andy remained focused and he broke again in game 11 to take another lead and this time he was efficient on own serve, sealing the set with a good hold in game 12 for a huge 7-6 7-5 advantage.
This time the Scot would make no mistake and crunched it out with his fourth ace of the match.
Del Potro's spirit was broken, and the vocal Paris crowd were quelled.
"That was obviously a brutal match we played in Rio, but also one of the most memorable that I'll have in my career regardless of what happens in the final few years of my tennis".
Asked if he rated it his best performance of the season, Murray said: "I played some good matches at the beginning of the year". If Murray gets into the second week of the tournament and has shaken off the last dregs of the cold that laid him low at the start of this week, he will be as risky as a world No1 should be.
He knew the opener was key in the slow, heavy conditions and by the third set, he was on the ropes, winning just 11points.
"I thought I played some good tennis towards the end".
$870K awarded to man whose doctor removed the wrong testicle
Lepisto said his client now has a "debilitating fear" of having his chronic testicle pain treated because of what Long did. Medical imaging showed that the testicle was almost half the size of the other, the same outlet reports. "Long.
The 30-year-old added: "After each match, when you speak with your - for me, anyway, when I speak with my team, the standards we set are pretty high, because you want to be playing well enough and doing the right things that are going to give you the best chance to win the tournament".
Third-seeded Stan Wawrinka, the 2015 champion, had just beaten 28th-seeded Fabio Fognini 7-6 (2), 6-0, 6-2 on Court Suzanne Lenglen when rain began to fall.
"I'm starting to feel better".
"I have been playing great, great points during whole, the first set". The top seed did not lose a single game in the set and dropped a mere 11 points in total.
Murray will next meet the victor of No. 21 John Isner vs. Karen Khachanov, who were rained out after the Russian won the first set.
Tired del Potro, who had already summoned the doctor early in the second set, can leave Paris with his head held high after returning to Roland Garros for the first time in five years, following a series of wrist injuries.
Rafael Nadal recorded his most one-sided victory ever at Roland Garros, beating Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-0 6-1 6-0, while defending women's champion Garbine Muguruza set up a fourth-round meeting with French hope Kristina Mladenovic.
Del Potro, ranked seeded No. 29 in the tournament, will now face tournament No. 1 seed Andy Murray in the round of 32 on Saturday at Roland-Garros.
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