Andy Murray surged into the third round today with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Marcel Granollers and then hit back at rivals who had dismissed his billing as favourite for the Australian Open.

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have this week questioned the world No4's rating as a genuine challenger for one of the biggest titles in the sport, given he has never won a Slam.

But there was evidence today of why Murray has remained unbeaten in 2009 as he took one hour and 50 minutes to beat the Spaniard and set up a clash with 31st seed Jurgen Melzer.

The British No1 said: “There are a few players out there who disagree with me being a favourite here but I feel I can go deep into this tournament. I was two points away from losing in the US Open against Jurgen and I am going to have to play well to win that one. ”

Melzer earned a shot at Murray by defeating Andreas Beck 5-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-3 and insisted the players are friends despite a series of spikey contests.

The Austrian said: “I have no problem with Andy and our matches have been good to watch. It is important I keep the pace of the game high and don't let him move me around as he can make you look bad when he does that.”

Murray went into today's match having played only 45 minutes' competitive tennis here after his first-round opponent Andrei Pavel retired injured in the second set.

He moved the tall Granollers around the court and then upped the pace of his shots to break as early as the third game. It was a statement of intent from Murray, whose record this year has given him the confidence to vary his game and make his opponents try to dominate. Initially, it paid off for the world No51, who made the most of a loose service game to immediately break against Murray.

It was to be a fleeting moment of triumph in the set for Granollers, whose short backswing does not allow him to generate the kind of power that Murray brings to his matches.

Murray provided evidence of this in the seventh game, when he made a second break of serve and it was an advantage he maintained to take the set after 41 minutes of impressive tennis. The first set included a well-anticipated jump-volley winner and thumping forehands that left
Granollers looking outclassed.

Murray built on this early success by breaking Granollers in the opening game of the second set and the match started to look like a routine day at the office for Murray.

The Scot broke serve again in the seventh game and then served out for a two-sets lead, although he did throw in a couple of unforced errors, including one of his favourite drop shots which only made the bottom of the net.

He wasted four set points, saved a break point and then brought some order to proceedings with a perfect lob and then an ace to take a 6-4, 6-2 lead.

Murray got better as the match progressed and hw produced a stunning forehand cross-court winner — delivered at full stretch — followed by a backhand which ripped past Granollers, to the delight of the fans. It was a far from faultless performance — he wasted a series of break point chances — but will have done enough to win over some of the doubters.

World No1 Rafael Nadal earlier continued his ominous form here as he swept past Croatia's Roko Karanusic 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in just one hour and 37
minutes.

The match against the world No92 lasted 20 minutes longer than Nadal's first-round demolition of Christophe Rochus and he has now given up just 11 games in the tournament so far.

Tommy Haas, once the world No2 but now 79th in the rankings, is the next player to try to tame the Spaniard. Today the German beat Italy's Flavio Cipolla 6-1, 6-2, 6-1. While Murray marched on in the men's singles, Britain's last surivor in the women's event went out, as Elena Baltacha blew the chance to beat former Australian Open champion Amelie Mauresmo.

The world No134, who battled through qualifying, led 2-0 in the deciding set only to see her game fall apart, losing 10 points in a row as the 20th seed claimed a scrappy 4-6, 6-3, 6‑2 win in two hours and 13 minutes.

Baltacha said: “Even at 2-0 up I felt the match was slipping away from me because I couldn't maintain the level I needed to beat her.”

Andy's brother, Jamie, went out of the men's doubles as he and American Eric Butorac lost their first-round tie to Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti and Spain's Tommy Robredo 6-4, 6-4.