Murray eases past Giraldo

The Scot was dangerous on his first serve, with 62 per cent of his rockets landing in to put his 54th-ranked opponent under pressure.

He laboured somewhat to an opening hold but imposed his reputation upon Giraldo in the second game, sealing a first break with some fine groundstrokes.

Giraldo earned two break points in the third game before Murray found his rhythm again to go three games up.

The Colombian then got on the board as he sought to attack his opponent and the two following games also went with serve.

Murray sealed the double break thanks to a wild Giraldo forehand on his third break point. So effective was Murray’s defence, Giraldo had to throw everything into his strokes from deep, leading to several such errors.

The Scot closed out the set with a hold despite being taken to deuce.

Giraldo’s first-serve percentage was 80 in the first set and 70 overall in the match, but he lacks the power of his illustrious opponent who broke him immediately in the second set.

Giraldo was on top in the first point of the following game, but Murray retrieved three potential winners before finding a passing shot to knock his rival’s confidence.

After the Scot’s hold Giraldo fought back for 2-1 – then surprised everyone by breaking back as Murray’s accuracy momentarily deserted him.

It was not to last: Murray broke in the next game and exhibited his best defensive work again - alongside some sublime short work - to break a third time in the set on his way to a straightforward win.

He will face Canadian Milos Raonic in the last eight after he earlier shocked clay specialist Nicolas Almagro 6-3 6-3.