A distracted Murray, who bizarrely clipped his fringe with a pair of scissors during one changeover early on, capitulated, but only after Nadal had softened him up with the kind of ferocious hitting that earned him 14 grand slam titles.
Ripping forehands to all corners of the court and moving smoothly, the 29-year-old dominated throughout to qualify for the semi-finals with a match to spare and leave Murray facing a Friday decider against Stanislas Wawrinka.
Nadal’s progress could have been held up had compatriot David Ferrer beaten Wawrinka in the evening session, but having led 5-2 in the first set and having a set point, Ferrer succumbed, losing 7-5 6-2 to the Swiss world number four.
