It was the fourth-round Australian Open win Novak Djokovic probably wishes he’d had.
Andy Murray swept an ailing Gilles Simon off court in straight sets in time for an early dinner – a stark contrast to the man whom the Scot may meet in Sunday’s final.
Djokovic spent more than five hours on court to eventually finish off Stanislas Wawrinka in the early hours of Monday morning.
Fourteenth seed Simon, who had played a five-set marathon the previous round against Gael Monfils, appeared to also be suffering from some sort of ‘flu, coughing and blowing his nose regularly during the match.
But Murray barely broke sweat in Monday’s 6-3 6-1 6-3 victory.
He broke Simon’s serve six times in the first two sets, and grabbed an early third set break before breaking again to win the match in one hour and 35 minutes.
Murray admitted Simon appeared to be struggling, but attempted to focus only on his game rather than the problems of his opponent.
“I just have to try to focus on my side of the court, but clearly he was struggling with his movement today,” Murray said.
Murray now plays another Frenchman, surprise packet Jeremy Chardy, in the quarter-finals.
Chardy beat Murray the last time they played in the Cincinnati Open last year.
He won through to the quarter-finals earlier on Monday with victory over Italian Andreas Seppi.