Murray cruises to quarter-final date

The British No 1 followed up Wednesday’s win over Radek Stepanek – his first since the Australian Open – with an equally convincing win over the 26-year-old Frenchman in the third round of this clay court event.

He had taken control but an ankle injury sustained by Simon enabled the Scot to turn the screw and set up a quarter-final against world No 82 Frederico Gil. The Portuguese qualifier was a surprise 7-6 (10/8) 6-2 winner over eighth seed Gael Monfils.

Murray said: “Once I got my position on the court and could use my forehand to open the court on his backhand I was able to dictate a lot of the points – then he got his injury.

“It changed the match. You always feel you are in the driving seat but it’s not a lot of fun, it spoils the concentration.

“Drop shots were winning me virtually every single point – I had to keep moving him.”

Rafael Nadal moved closer to claiming a seventh straight title with a 6-2 6-4 victory over Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

Nadal will next meet veteran Croatian Ivan Ljubicic, who beat Tomas Berdych 6-4 6-2.

Roger Federer had a 6-4 6-3 win over Marin Cilic and next plays Jurgen Melzer, who beat Nicolas Almagro 6-1 6-4.