After Murray converted a third set point of his own when his opponent's big forehand landed barely wide, del Potro rested his head on the net and stayed put for several seconds, the very picture of disappointment.
Murray seized his lifeline, a 4th ace giving him a two-set lead.
The former US Open champion failed on four occasions to close out the first set and once Murray went ahead there was no turning back. From painful defeats del Potro has not managed to move on the Argentine gradually wilted, and Murray each game added and won a legitimate victory.
After that marathon first set, the match quickly turned in Murray's favour as the Scot went on to clinch the final set in just 28 minutes.
The world number one, who beat Del Potro in the Rio Olympic final, needed almost three hours to beat the 29th seed, and Murray made an effort to contain his trademark swearing and futile shouting, after admitting he had let his emotions get the better of him in the previous round.
"He took the little chance to win both (of the first two) sets, Del Potro reflected".
World number one Andy Murray achieves his 7th win in 10 meetings and will next face either John Isner or Karen Khachanov.
"The first set was very, very important for me - in these conditions, slowing and heavy, to come back would have been hard if I had lost it", two-time Wimbledon champion Murray said after the match.
The mighty recovery of Paul Casey puts him in US Open mix
A do-over chip and two putts later, Hadwin's scorecard had its first double bogey of the championship. I came in this week with no expectations really at all", said the 22-year-old.
On Thursday morning in a heated second round matchup between Juan Martin del Potro and Nicolas Almagro, Almagro fell to the court with an apparent knee injury and writhed in pain nearly instantly.
- World number one Andy Murray and 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro square off in the latest chapter of a thrilling rivalry.
The loss of the opening set seemed to deflate Del Potro, and Murray won 7-6 (8) 7-5 6-0 to advance to the fourth round at Roland Garros.
"I couldn't believe that set, that I lost that set, because I had many opportunities to win", del Potro said.
"I wasn't expecting to come in and play wonderful after how the build-up had gone", Murray said. And I told him to think about his family, his baby.
The first set was massive, and the Argentinian's despair was caused by him knowing it was a long way back in the prevailing cool and heavy conditions. "It was tough because he was playing much better than me in the first set".
But Rafael Nadal needed just 90 minutes to wrap up a 6-0 6-1 6-0 win against Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Garcia beat Su-Wei Hsieh 6-4, 4-6, 9-7 after surviving a mid-match lull in performance, setting the stage for two of France's title hopefuls to meet in a showdown to decide who progresses to the last eight.
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