Murray, Djokovic Reach Madrid Quarterfinals

The Mutua Madrid Open defending champion Andy Murray made his way back into the tournament’s quarterfinals, moving past Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-2 on Thursday.

Murray needed just one hour and 40 minutes to move past Simon, never facing a break point and converting on three of his chances on Simon’s serve to cruise into the final eight in Madrid.

“I didn’t return that well at the beginning. But when I got into a rhythm, I was able to dictate a lot of points,” said Murray. “I used my variety well and served well. He wasn’t able to put me under much pressure on my serve after the first couple of games. It’s obviously very tricky against Simon. He lulls you into a false sense of security in points. Sometime the better you hit the ball, the better it comes back.

In the quarterfinals, Murray will take on eighth-seed Tomas Berdych. The Czech defeated David Ferrer 7-6(8), 7-5 on Thursday.

Murray is seeking his first title of 2016 in Madrid. This tournament was the home of his first career Masters 1000 clay-court championship a year ago, when he defeated Rafael Nadal in the final.

World number one Novak Djokovic looked dominant in his third-round matchup on Thursday, blowing past Spain’s Roberto Bautista-Agut 6-2, 6-1.

Djokovic converted on five of his eight break point chances, and didn’t face a single break point on his serve, winning 88 percent of his first serve points to move through in one hour and eight minutes.

The Serb moves on to face the winner of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Milos Raonic.

Kei Nishikori fought off a late rally from Richard Gasquet in his third-round match on Thursday, hanging on to beat the Frenchman 6-4, 7-5.

The sixth-seed Nishikori held two match points on serve at 5-4 in the second, but Gasquet saved both of those and came back to break and even things at 5-5 in the second set.

But Nishikori responded back by breaking immediately, and held his nerve and his serve in the ensuing game to close out Gasquet and advance.

Nishikori will take on Nick Kyrgios in the quarterfinals. The Australian held off Pablo Cuevas 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 in his third-round match.