Andy Murray booked a quarter-final showdown with Kyle Edmund at the China Open following a 6-2 6-1 victory over Andrey Kuznetsov.
Edmund beat Roberto Bautista Agut earlier in the day to book his place in the last eight having qualified for the tournament over the weekend, and Murray ensured they will meet for a second time this season with a straight sets victory over Kuznetsov.
Murray beat Edmund in three sets on his way to the title at Queens Club in the summer and the Davis Cup team-mates will go head-to head for a place in the Beijing semi-finals, where the winner will face either Alexander Zverev or David Ferrer.
Murray raced through his clash with world No 48 Kuznetsov, who did not win a game on his own serve.
Murray lost just three games as he showed he is moving back to form and fitness after a break following a long and successful summer that saw him claim Olympic gold and a second Wimbledon title.
Despite a couple of breaks of serve from Kuznetsov, the world No 2 came through the first set with little trouble. On both occasions Kuznetsov made a breakthrough on the Murray serve, but the Scot was able to break back immediately to retain a hold of the contest before running away with the match in the second.
Murray kicked off the second set in dominant fashion, holding serve comfortably before breaking the Russian in his opening service game to take a 2-0 lead.
Kuznetsov hit back with an immediate break of his own but a third successive break in the set ensured Murray regained the initiative and also meant that after six service games, Kuznetsov had yet to win a game on his own serve.
The pattern continued with a routine hold for Murray followed by yet another break of the Russian's serve to put the world No 2 on the brink and he wrapped it up with a dominant hold to ease to victory in one hour and 15 minutes.