 Murray lost concentration in the second set but was an easy winner |
Andy Murray brushed aside Belgium's Christophe Rochus to reach the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open and set up a clash with Max Mirnyi. The 19-year-old Scot, who has been struggling with a cold, took one hour 20 minutes to secure a 6-1 6-3 victory.
Murray raced through the first set in just under half an hour, twice breaking Rochus on his way to taking the lead.
He broke Rochus twice more in the second set to lead 4-1 and overcame a mid-set wobble to close out the match.
For the first three-quarters of the match Murray produced a far better display than he managed when he struggled past Filippo Volandri in the first round.
606 DEBATE: Your reaction to Murray's victory
But at 4-1 in the second set he let his standards slip, over-elaborating and giving Rochus a glimmer of hope.
 | It was good to have a fast match this time, particularly as I have been feeling unwell |
Murray came up with three poor drop shots in four points to hand Rochus his only break of the match.
With his coach, Brad Gilbert, glowering in the stands Murray followed up with yet another dire drop shot on the first point of Rochus' service game.
The Belgian eventually held after facing yet more break points but Murray managed to re-focus and after holding his serve he broke the Belgian for the fifth time to secure victory.
"It was good to have a fast match this time, particularly as I have been feeling unwell," said Murray. "I was very happy with that.
"The last four to five days I have been feeling quite bad and I felt better today than I did in the first-round match.
"The first set was easy - I played very well. In the second set the wind started to come a little bit and it was more difficult, but I still played well and I definitely served better today.
"I still know I must take one match at a time. Everyone is a little rusty because this is the first tournament of the year."
In other matches, Nikolay Davydenko beat Jonas Bjorkman 6-4 6-3 and second seed Ivan Ljubicic saw off 2002 champion Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco 6-3 6-4.
Also through to the last eight are Robin Soderling, Marcos Baghdatis, Mikhail Youzhny and Olivier Rochus.
Murray and his brother Jamie made further progress in the doubles, defeating Marius Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski of Poland 4-6 6-2 11-9 to reach the semi-finals. The Scottish pair will take on Youzhny and Nenad Zimonjic for a place in the final.
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