Andy Murray hammered down nine aces as he took the first set of his Wimbledon quarter-final with Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Murray survived a five-set epic in the previous round, which finished at 10:39pm under the new roof on Centre Court, but there was little danger of a repeat in the scorching sunshine in SW19.

The third seed began imperiously, holding his opening service game to love and rounding it off with an ace, and dropped just four points on serve throughout the set.

Ferrero saved a break point in the fourth game and then a set point in the 12th as he tried to force a tie-break, but Murray was not to be denied.

The 22-year-old Scot pounced on a weak second serve from Ferrero to smash a cross-court backhand winner, and took the set 7-5 on his second set point thanks to a double fault from his opponent.

After such a dominant display on serve in the opening set, it was a major surprise when the British number one was broken at the start of the second.

Ferrero, cheered on by golf star Sergio Garcia from the players’ box, produced a superb forehand passing shot when Murray made a rare visit to the net, and Murray then dumped a tame backhand into the net.