Andy Murray Beats Gilles Simon At Madrid Open

 

Andy Murray is into the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open after sending Gilles Simon packing with a straight-sets win. The defending champion edged a step closer to retaining his clay court title after a 6-4 6-2 victory in the Spanish capital on Thursday.

Simon will have been no stranger to Murray on the red surface the Frenchman was the beaten opponent in the 2008 final when the Brit registered his first Madrid title. Murray never looked in danger of losing this last-16 repeat - he never faced a break point and broke crucially at the start of the second set to build a 3-0 lead that would prove insurmountable.

Simon gamely held his serve twice but Murray completed match point against the serve at the second time of asking, after coming to the net to gain the upper hand in a rally. The result furthered Murray's head-to-head results against Simon to 14-2.