Top-seed Andy Murray has eased his way into the quarter-finals of Munich’s ATP tournament with a straight sets win over qualifier Mischa Zverev to begin his French Open preparations.

Britain’s world No.3 needed just 74 minutes to enjoy a 6-2 6-2 win over the Russian-born German qualifier, who is ranked 650 places below the Scot, to start his clay-court season to prepare for Roland Garros.

Having dominated the first set, Murray had more problems dealing with the 27-year-old left-hander Zverev in the second, but still defended all six break points he faced for a comfortable victory.

“It wasn’t too easy, he had a different style to most other players and it was tricky playing against a left-hander, but I got the important points,” said the Scotsman, who is also playing doubles in Munich.

“He was returning from a long way back.

“My forehand went better than my backhand, but it was a good first match for me.”

Murray faces a tougher test in Friday’s quarter-finals when he plays world No.41 Lukas Rosol who booked his last eight berth with a 7-5 6-2 win over Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky in their second-round match.