Murray To Clash With Countryman Edmund In Beijing QFs

Top seed Andy Murray of Great Britain advanced to the final eight of the China Open after dismissing Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov 6-2, 6-1 on Wednesday evening.

The 2014 semifinalist (l. to Djokovic) won 81 per cent of first-serve points and broke his opponent seven times during the 76-minute encounter.

By reaching his 11th quarter-final of the season, Murray improves to a 57-9 match record — the most wins on the ATP World Tour this season. Along the way, he picked up four titles: Rome (d. Djokovic), London/Queen’s Club (d. Raonic), the Rio Olympics (d. del Potro), and his second Wimbledon crown (d. Raonic).

He next faces countryman Kyle Edmund, who dismissed Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in their second-round match. Murray leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 1-0, with the win coming on grass this June at the Aegon Championships.

“[On] the day of the match, it’s always a little bit uncomfortable,” said Murray about playing against his Davis Cup teammate, “because normally when you see your friends and stuff in the locker room, you have a chat, joke around a bit. But on match days, it always tends to be a little bit more serious.

“Once you get out on the court and start competing, it’s fine. After the match, again, it’s always fine. But it’s just sort of the couple hours before when you see each other in the locker room, it can be a little bit uncomfortable.”