Andy Murray has booked his place in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open after defeating Gilles Simon over three sets.
The Frenchman was quickest off the starting blocks, breaking the British number one at the first time of asking while keeping his own serve intact.
Murray offered little resistance during the opener, surrendering his serve again at at 4-2 before handing Simon the set by sending a forehand long of the baseline.
The Scot got off to an equally sluggish start in the second set, again being broken in the first game, but it was far more closely contested than the opener.
Murray broke back with a vicious backhand return to make it two games apiece, and went on to take the set 6-4.
Simon's hopes of causing an upset appeared to have been dashed early into the decider when Murray broke for 2-0, but the world number three soon became complacent, surrendering his serve at 3-1 to open the contest back up.
Both players went on to hold tight, with Murray squandering two match points at 6-5, allowing a very relieved Simon to force the tie-break.
The French underdog continued to offer resistance during the tie-break, but Murray raised his game and stole it 8-6 to set up a quarter-final clash with Tomas Berdych.
Mark Langshaw
