Murray romps past Nalbandian

Andy Murray crushed in-form David Nalbandian to book his place in the semi-finals of the ATP Rogers Cup on Friday night.

The Scot, the defending champion and fourth seed, saw off the former Wimbledon finalist in style, winning 6-2 6-2 in one hour and nine minutes.

It is a vital win for Murray who must reach the final of the event to preserve his world number four ranking.

Murray asserted his authority early on, breaking in the third game to take a 2-1 lead.

The Scot faced a break point at 3-2, 40-30 but saved it with an ace down the middle before closing out the game.

Nalbandian double-faulted to hand Murray another break at 5-2, leaving the 23-year-old to see out the set.

Murray suffered a second-set meltdown in his 6-2 0-6 6-3 victory over Gael Monfils in last round, but there was never a danger of a repeat happening on Friday.

He broke Nalbandian in the first game of the second set and sealed his fifth straight game to take a 2-0 lead.

A further break followed before Murray rounded off the victory in emphatic fashion with an ace.

Murray will play top seed Rafael Nadal, his conqueror in the semi-finals at Wimbledon, in the next round. The Spaniard came from a set down to defeat Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber 3-6 6-3 6-4.