Japanese test next for bored Murray

Kukushkin was struggling from the outset with a left hip flexor problem, an injury sustained during his epic five-set win over Gael Monfils in the previous round, and was unable to put up a fight in what quickly became a lifeless encounter.

Kazakh dragged it out for just over two sets but sensibly opted to retire when trailing 6-1 6-1 1-0 and with no chance of turning it around.

It was far from ideal for the crowd and Murray, who will play Kei Nishikori next following the Japanese player’s victory over sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, admitted he too had taken little enjoyment from it.

“It was boring,” he said. “There was nothing happening on the court. I didn’t have to do anything, just hit the ball in court and he wasn’t running.

“He was making mistakes the first or second ball of the rally. That was it.”

The fourth seed felt Kukushkin had made the right decision to pull out when he did.

“Yeah, because it was pointless, he wasn’t running,” he added. “The people probably weren’t enjoying the match, I certainly wasn’t.

“There wasn’t any good points because he couldn’t move properly. Sometimes it’s just best to stop. I get to conserve a bit of energy but he was obviously struggling.”

Murray had no idea coming into the match that the world No 92 was carrying a problem.

“We practised on the court next to each other this morning, we both practised for about 40 minutes,” he said. “I saw him bouncing around before he went on court and it wasn’t until I went up 3-0 pretty quickly that I realised he wasn’t really moving.”

Although he was clearly underwhelmed by events, Murray was pleased to have spent such little time on court, especially as Nishikori had to battle for five sets over three-and-a-half hours to see off Tsonga.

Nishikori became the first Japanese player to reach the last eight of the Australian Open in 80 years.

Nishikori, 22, outlasted Tsonga to win 2-6 6-2 6-1 3-6 6-3 and advance to his maiden grand slam quarter-final.

“I am feeling unbelievable, to beat Tsonga makes me really happy,” he said.

“I was playing one point at a time, it was not easy conditions and he was playing well too. Hopefully it’s big in Japan, I’m really excited.”

Lleyton Hewitt rolled back the years in the evening match to deliver a typically gutsy display but it was not enough to derail Novak Djokovic’s title defence.

Hewitt looked down and out at two sets and 3-0 down but he stormed back to take the contest to a fourth set in which the world No 1 showed battling qualities of his own to edge through 6-1 6-3 4-6 6-3 in nearly three hours.

For so long, it was one-way traffic with Hewitt looking flat and tired after his exertions against Andy Roddick and Milos Raonic in the previous rounds.

From nowhere, Hewitt found form in the third set and Djokovic looked rattled. The 30-year-old from Adelaide, twice a grand slam champion, dragged it back to 3-3, broke again for a 5-4 lead and then served it out.

And when Djokovic faced another break point in the third game of the fourth set, the comeback looked set to continue.

But the Serbian held his nerve to win the game and with that he regained the momentum. He claimed the Hewitt serve to go 4-2 up for a lead he would not relinquish.

Next for Djokovic is a meeting with fifth seed David Ferrer in the last eight. The Spaniard was an impressive winner, beating the dangerous Richard Gasquet 6-4 6-4 6-1.

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