Andy Murray strolled into the quarter-finals of the China Open on Wednesday with a straightforward victory over Pablo Cuevas.

Fresh from winning the Shenzhen Open four days ago, Murray was on fine form in Beijing on Thursday, needing just one hour and 20 minutes to beat the Uruguayan 6-2 6-2.

Murray will meet either Marin Cilic or Joao Sousa for a place in the semi-finals on Friday.

World number 11 Murray made a flying start to his second-round encounter at the National Tennis Center, breaking Cuevas in the first and third games and holding serve twice to race into a 4-0 lead.

Cuevas held his next two service games, but so did the Scot to win the first set 6-2 with the minimum of fuss.

The start of the second set mirrored the first when Murray broke twice and held his own serve to surge into a 4-0 lead, but Cuevas then broke back before holding his serve to reduce the deficit to 4-2.

Annoyed at losing two successive games, Murray upped the ante by breaking Ceuvas for the fifth and final time in the next game before holding serve to win the second set 6-2 and wrap up victory in convincing fashion.