Last updated on .From the section Tennis

Andy Murray hit 39 winners to Cameron Norrie's 40

Andy Murray reached his first singles quarter-final in a year by beating fellow Briton Cameron Norrie in the second round of the China Open.

After two tight sets taken on tie-breaks, Murray raced through the decider to win 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 after nearly three hours in Beijing.

It is the first time he has won two straight ATP Tour singles matches since hip resurfacing surgery in January.

Murray will now face Austrian top seed Dominic Thiem on Friday.

The three-time Grand Slam champion, 32, served for the first set at 5-3, but Norrie broke back to force a tie-break, also then saving three set points before he double-faulted to hand Murray the opener.

British number three Norrie, 24, surged into a 5-2 lead in the second before Murray responded to take it to a tie-break - only to go down 7-4.

Murray loudly admonished himself following errors and told his coaching team he was "very poor" after the first set.

Yet the Scot was moving well, looking to have recovered after his impressive win over Matteo Berrettini on Tuesday, and won 71% and 70% of points on his first and second serve respectively.

And Norrie had no answer to Murray's power and placement in the decider, the former world number one breaking twice to wrap up victory.

Murray will now have a day off before playing his last-eight tie on Friday.

His last ATP Tour singles quarter-final appearance was a defeat by Spaniard Fernando Verdasco at the Shenzhen Open in September 2018.