Murray breezes past gritty Sousa despite stifling heat

Andy Murray reached the last 16 of the Western & Southern Open after shrugging off humid conditions in Cincinnati to beat Joao Sousa.

The world No 9, whose Wimbledon title defence ended at the quarter-final stage, encountered a major obstacle on his road to redemption when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga dumped him out of the ATP Rogers Cup last week in Toronto.

But the Scot took that setback in his stride and, despite playing in 63% humidity at the Lindner Family Tennis Centre, made light work of Portugal’s Sousa, winning 6-3 6-3.