Igra Tennis Australian Open

Andy Murray was rarely troubled as he saw off the limited challenge of Joao Sousa

Murray celebrates on his way to his third straight-sets win of the week in Melbourne

Sousa rallied towards the end of the third set but couldn't sustain his challenge and crashed out

Muray will take on Grigor Dimitrov in the next round, the man who knocked him out of Wimbledon last year

The stakes will be even higher after the shock exit of Roger Federer at the hands of Andreas Seppi, as the world No 2 was due to be awaiting the winner in the quarter-finals.

Murray was, for the most part, in imperious form over on the Hisense Arena and played with real aggression. He will need to reproduce that positive outlook to get past world No 11 Dimitrov, who often draws comparisons with the great Swiss.

'It should be a good match, he has improved a lot over the last few years, ' said Murray of a player who he beat when they last played, at the Paris Masters, indoors in November.

Murray was pleased with his afternoon's work: 'Joao came back into it and played some great shots at the end. My body feels good, although you know it's going to get tougher with every round.'

Dimitrov needed to summon up all his resolve to get past Cyprus's Marcos Baghdatis, and took a sapping three hours and 28 minutes before winning 4-6 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-3. Murray by contrast was in complete control bar a brief period in the third set, when his concentration slightly faltered at 4-1 up.

Murray will have to improve his serving if he is to go stand a chance of winning the tournament

Murray's groundstrokes were often sublime however and left Sousa with little answer

Kim Sears was in her usual position courtside to watch her fiance make short work of Sousa

He had needed to save an early break point in the third game of the opener, when he served two double faults. From then on he powered ahead, not dropping a further game in the first against Sousa, who needed treatment on his his upper leg when he went 4-1 down in the second. He looked in pain, but seemed to move well thereafter.