Andy Murray sets up clash with Grigor Dimitrov at Australian Open

Andy Murray faces a last 16 clash with Grigor Dimitrov after cruising past Joao Sousa for the loss of just seven games at the Australian Open.

Murray dominated his Portuguese opponent and a 6-1, 6-1, 7-5 win set up a mouth-watering clash with the Bulgarian star who beat him at Wimbledon last year.

No.6 seed Murray hit 39 winners against Sousa, who required treatment on a quad injury in the second set, and completed the job in two hours and six minutes.

Afterwards, Murray, into the fourth round for a seventh year in a row, said: "I was up two sets and 4-1 and Joao came back into it. He competed very well. He always does.

"I think today was my longest match but I feel pretty good. So far I have played three matches pretty much in the heat of the day. Thankfully they've not been too long and it hasn't taken too much out of me.

"It should be a good match (against Dimitrov). My record against him is 4-2. He has obviously improved a lot over the last couple of years. It should be a fun match."

Dimitrov needed five sets to secure his place against Murray after battling past  2006 finalist Marcos Baghdatis. 

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Head 2 Head:

Dimitrov so far:

Round 1 v Dustin Brown: 6-2, 6-3, 6-2

Round 2 v Lukas Lacko: 6-3, 6-7(10), 6-3, 6-3

Round 3 v Marcos Baghdatis: 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3

Doubles:

Both Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot enjoyed wins in the second round of the men’s doubles.

Murray and long-term Australian partner John Peers confidently dispatched Omar Jasika and John-Patrick Smith 6-2, 6-3 to continue their strong run of form.

Meanwhile Inglot and Romanian Florin Mergea overcame Diego Schwartzman and Horacio Zeballos 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-2

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Dom Inglot & Florin Mergea by Getty Images

Speaking afterwards, Murray said: “I think we both made quite a few improvements in the off-season actually, various parts of our games, and that showed in the way we played in Brisbane as well and in the first two matches here.

“We’re happy, we’re feeling good about where our games are at and we’re looking forward to the next round.”

Jamie Murray & John Peers by Getty Images

It was not to be for Heather Watson though, whose Australian Open campaign is over after a 6-0, 6-2 defeat alongside Alexandra Panova to 12th seeds Alla Kudryavtseva and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.