Andy Murray secured the biggest win of his comeback so far as he defeated world No. 11 David Goffin 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Shenzhen Open in China.
Playing in only his 12th match of an injury-hit season, Murray started well and quickly took a 4-1 lead following an early break of serve. No .1 seed Goffin hit back with a break of his own but Murray responded by winning the final two games of the first set to seal a 6-3 advantage.
In the second set Murray raced to a 5-1 lead before Goffin rallied to make it 5-4. Murray then faced multiple break points on his serve but won them all before clinching match point as the game went to deuce. The British player fired 15 aces during the match, winning 70 percent of points on his first serve.
After defeating fellow-Brit and world No. 18 Kyle Edmund at the Citi Open in August, Goffin is the highest-ranked player Murray has beaten since his French Open semifinal win over then world No. 9 Kei Nishikori in May 2017.
Murray, who is currently ranked 311th in the world, will face either Fernando Verdasco of Spain or Taro Daniel of Japan in the quarterfinals, where he also joins Cameron Norrie.
The former world No. 1 and three-time Grand Slam champion has not won an ATP Tour event since winning Dubai in March 2017.
Earlier in the day Alex De Minaur defeated Mackenzie McDonald 1-6, 7-6 (1), 6-0 to advance. The Australian will play Damir Dzumhur, who beat Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-4, 6-2.