Britain’s Andy Murray swept past Belgian David Goffin at the Paris Masters – three weeks before their likely meeting in the Davis Cup final.
Murray, seeded second, won 6-1 6-0 on the indoor hard courts to reach the quarter-finals, where he will play French 10th seed Richard Gasquet.
Belgium will host Britain in the Davis Cup final in Ghent from 27-29 November.
Murray now has a 2-0 record against Goffin, but if they meet in Ghent it will be their first match on clay.
“Obviously clay is seen as being my worst surface, but I still feel like I play well on that court,” said the Scot.
“I don’t know what speed the court’s going to be. If it’s quick, then I think that will help my serve a lot. If it’s slow, then I feel like I can track a lot of balls down on the clay, which is positive.
“But it was good for me to get the chance to play him before the Davis Cup and see his game and the speed of his shots and where he maybe makes some mistakes from and things that he likes to do.
“Obviously with the result, that’s a positive. I mean, mentally for me it’s a positive win.”
| Russell Fuller, BBC tennis correspondent in Paris |
|---|
| “This scoreline will have delighted the British Davis Cup captain Leon Smith. |
| “He arrived in South America this morning to join James Ward and Kyle Edmund as they practise on the clay – but they will be surplus to requirements on the Sunday of the final if Murray continues to play like this. |
| “The British number one won 12 of the first 13 points, and dropped only eight service points in the entire match as he simply demolished the Belgian number one. |
| “Murray was particularly dismissive of Goffin’s second serve and the wounds will still be raw in three weeks’ time.” |
Dominant Murray lays down marker
Goffin is the highest-ranked Belgian at 16 in the world and has had a fine year, but the gap to the world number three was quickly apparent.
Murray, 28, asserted his authority from the outset, winning 12 of the first 13 points and breaking twice as he clinched the opening set in 25 minutes.
The Scot made it seven games from eight when a deep backhand return followed by a rasping winner down the line gave him another break at the start of the second.
Goffin, 24, could only watch as two more blistering returns flew past him for a fourth break of serve at 3-0, and Murray completed the demolition job – for the loss of just one game – after 53 minutes.
“Andy was extremely efficient today,” said Goffin. “This didn’t help me to get into that match. This is why that match was the way it was.
“As far as I was concerned, I thought this would be my last match of the [ATP World Tour] season, so it’s really tough to really put all your energy into it.
“I felt tired. My body was on the court, but there was nobody on the inside.”
Isner tie-breaks too good for Federer
John Isner upset third seed and former champion Roger Federer 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 7-6 (7-5), the 6ft 10in American’s second win in seven attempts against the 17-time Grand Slam champion.
Isner, seeded 13th, did not manage to break the Federer serve over the course of two hours and 16 minutes but the Swiss only made the breakthrough once and was edged out in two tie-breaks.
“Does indoors maybe help him there a little bit? Potentially,” said Federer. “He’s got the size, got the power, got the angles.”
Isner, who finished with a 145mph serve, said: “It is like a pitcher with a fast ball, I guess, and is a shot I have hit a million times.”
World number one Novak Djokovic extended his winning streak to 19 matches, and 26 consecutive sets, with a 6-3 7-5 victory over Frenchman Gilles Simon.
The Serb, 28, was broken when serving for the match, but closed it out at the second attempt and will next face Tomas Berdych or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Gasquet progressed when Kei Nishikori retired with an abdominal injury trailing 7-6 (7-3) 4-1, but the Japanese player was optimistic he will be fit for the ATP Finals, which begin in 10 days’ time.
Rafael Nadal saved a match point in the second-set tie-breaker before beating South African Kevin Anderson 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-2.
The Spanish seventh seed next faces French Open champion Stan Wawrinka,who beat Viktor Troicki 6-4 7-5.
