Andy Murray banished old memories of a heavy defeat to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez by cruising past the Spaniard 6-2, 6-0 on Wednesday night to reach the quarter-finals in Dubai for a fifth time in his career.

The world No1 needed just 72 minutes to take out Garcia-Lopez and described his form this week as “way better” than the start of the year.

Murray began his 2017 campaign by losing the Doha final to Novak Djokovic – which ended his 28-match winning streak – and then suffered a shock fourth round defeat to Mischa Zverev at the Australian Open.

After a five-week break, Murray returned to action in Dubai and has been convincing in his wins over Malek Jaziri and Garcia-Lopez in his first two rounds.

“It was way better than how I played at the beginning of the year, that’s for sure,” Murray said on Wednesday after his second round win.

“You know, playing aggressive, feeling more solid, you know, when I’m in position to dictate the points, I’m doing it, moving forward.

“I hit my forehand very well last couple of matches. I served better today. It’s been a good start. Obviously matches will get tougher, but I’m much happier with how I’m playing.”

The last time the two had met was in Indian Wells in 2012 when Garcia-Lopez claimed a comfortable win over Murray.

But Wednesday’s Garcia-Lopez was a different type of opponent. Ranked No97 in the world, the Spaniard only just ended an 11-match losing streak last week in Delray Beach and his opening round victory in Dubai over Viktor Troicki was just his second win of the season.

The first four games were a grind and took about half an hour to complete but Murray was in the zone soon after, breaking then consolidating for a 4-1 advantage.

The Brit broke again in game eight to seal the opening set.

Murray got his hands on two break points in his the Spaniard’s first service game of the second and he only needed one chance to inch ahead 2-0 on a long ball from his opponent.

The world No1 was in an untouchable mood and he opened up a 5-0 gap with a sensational volley only he can make look that easy.

The 29-year-old got his first match point on a forehand winner but Garcia-Lopez saved it with an overhead smash.

Murray closed out the contest on his second chance though when Garcia-Lopez sent a backhand into the net.

“Often the start of the match is key, especially the way that that one got going. When I got the early break, pretty much was almost 30 minutes in and we’d only played four games,” said Murray, who next takes on Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber.

“Mentally, that was important for me, to be up at that stage.

“It could have gone either way, obviously, first few games. But being up at that stage helped, and then I loosened up a bit after that and played really well.”

Murray went to the net 12 times during the match and lost just one of those points up front.

“It’s something I used to do a lot more earlier in my career, and then sometimes you can get away from that,” said Murray.

““It’s obviously sometimes feel like it’s more high-risk going to the net, but if you trust your shot and you’re feeling confident and striking it well, when you’re in the middle of the court, it’s very difficult, especially on a surface like this, to make the passes.

“So, yeah, I think that the surface here allows it. The surface in Australia also allowed it, as well, and I used it to my advantage tonight.”