World number one Andy Murray eased into the quarterfinals at the clay grand slam by overpowering Karen Khachanov. Simona Halep looks favorite for the women’s title after dispatching Carla Suarez Navarro in just an hour.Whatever Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic can do, Andy Murray can match.
A confident 6-3 6-4 6-4 win over Russia’s Karen Khachanov put the top seed into the last eight after his Spanish and Serbian rivals secured their passage on Sunday.
The Briton, who lost to Djokovic in last year’s men’s final, seized a break in the sixth game of the first set against the 21-year-old and never looked back.
The second set was a similar story with Murray dominating in all the key statistics and he made sure he would not be on court longer than needed by breaking serve in the first game of the third set.
He sent down five aces on the famously slow surface while his opponent did not help himself with six double faults.
Murray next meets Kei Nishikori after the Japanese outlasted Spain’s Fernando Verdasco 0-6 6-4 6-4 6-0.
Halep looks imperious
In the women’s draw, Romania’s third seed Simona Halep raced through to her second quarterfinal appearance with a quickfire 6-1 6-1 mauling of Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro.
With big guns Angelique Kerber and Garbine Muguruza already having crashed out and Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova not playing because of pregnancy and the legacy of a doping ban, Halep now looks in the best shape to land her maiden grand slam title.
She crushed Suarez Navarro in every aspect of tennis in just one hour of play, delivering 19 winners to the Spaniard’s five.
The 25-year-old previously made the final at Roland Garros in 2014 when she lost out to Sharapova.
Halep will play fifth seed Elina Svitolina in the last eight after the Ukrainian beat Croatia’s Petra Martic 4-6 6-3 7-5.
