Andy Murray wasted little time in booking his place in the quarter-finals of the US Open after producing a near perfect display to defeat big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic.

The 21-year-old was viewed as a potential banana skin for Murray who also had to contend with the threat of rain which was forecast for later in the evening.

Murray looked comfortable throughout as he secured a 6-4 6-4 6-2 victory in exactly two hours to reach his eight consecutive quarter-final at a Grand Slam.

Andy Murray
Murray faces another big server in Cilic in the last eight [Reuters] Reuters

Having not faced a single break point throughout the match, Murray will feel extremely confident when he faces 12<sup>th seed Marin Cilic of Croatia on Wednesday.

"I used a lot of variation tonight," revealed Murray. "Milos has a huge game. I got lucky a couple of times but hit my passing shots very well.

"I had only played him one time before and you start to see things after a few games. I was just trying to react as quickly as possible.

"Sometimes the serves fly past you, sometimes you get a racquet on them and tonight I got a racquet on them. I tried to stay focused for every point and did a good job of that."

Raonic had won their only previous meeting in Barcelona earlier this year, but it was Murray who came out the aggressor as he quickly found his rhythm and got used to the huge serving of the Canadian.

In the seventh game Murray claimed his first break of the match and had little trouble serving out to win the first set.

It was more of the same in the second set as Murray continued to hold his serve with ease, while jumping all over the second serve of Raonic who was feeling the pressure.

The vital break came in the fifth game as Raonic saved two break points before dumping a back hand in to the net and handing Murray the game.

The Scot made short work of his serve games before stepping up yet another gear in the third to secure two more breaks of serve to claim a comfortable victory.

In the same half of the draw, Roger Federer was handed a walk-over after American hopeful Mardy Fish was forced to pull out of their clash due to health-related reasons.

The five-time champion will now face sixth seed Tomas Berdych who made short work of Spain's Nicolas Almagro with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 6-1 victory.

In the women's draw Serena Williams produced a blistering display as she thrashed Andrea Hlavackova 6-0 6-0 to reach the last eight.

The three-time winner will now face Ana Ivanovic who has looked impressive in the tournament so far, beating Tsvetaba Pironkova 6-0 6-4 to reach the quarter-final.

Also in action yesterday was Italian Sara Errani who beat sixth seed Angelique Kerber 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 and will now face compatriot Roberta Vinci who caused a shock to beat second seed Agnieska Radwanska.