Simple for Murray as he downs Simon

Andy Murray is through to the quarter-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open after a straight-sets victory over Gilles Simon in Miami.

The Scot had not played for a couple of days as Canadian Milos Raonic had to withdraw through injury in the previous round and it took a while for the British number one to get going.

He had to save three break points in the opening game before securing a break of his own to claim the opening set. And the three-time Grand Slam finalist went on to earn a 6-3 6-4 triumph to set up a last-eight meeting with Serbian ninth seed Janko Tipsarevic. Murray was not too concerned about his slow start to the match and felt the tough opening game actually helped him to overcome the Frenchman.

"The first game probably helped because I saved a couple of break points," he told www.atptour.com. "After that, I kind of loosened up a little bit and felt much better. "So that first game, even though it was like 17, 18 minutes, was probably a good thing after not playing for a few days."

World number one Novak Djokovic is also through to the last eight after beating Frenchman Richard Gasquet 7-5 6-3, and he will now play Spaniard David Ferrer, who beat Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro 6-3 6-3. Second seed Rafael Nadal also progressed with a 6-4 6-4 success over Japan's Kei Nishikori but there are concerns over his fitness as he took a medical break with a knee injury late in the opening set. American Mardy Fish is also through after beating Nicolas Almagro 6-3 6-7 (2-7) 6-3.