He next plays the winner from the match-up of current and former number one players as Roger Federer faced Lleyton Hewitt.

'It was tough out there and hard to see in the glare,' said Murray. 'I did play a lot better after that point. He was really dominating in the early stages.'

Last week's Montreal champion, who is bidding for his third Masters shield of the season, improved his record to 53-7 on the season as he aims for a sixth 2009 title on Sunday.

'Physical condition makes a difference when you are not hitting the ball that clearly,' said Murray. 'Players these days make you do a lot of running, I have to be able to stay out there for three or four hours if necessary.'

In the day's other quarter-finals, Rafael Nadal was facing Czech Tomas Berdych, while fourth seed Novak Djokovic was playing France's Gilles Simon.