Andy Murray pulled out of his Dubai Championships quarter-final against Richard Gasquet today because of a virus.

The British No1 had been a doubt for the match because of an ongoing ankle injury, which forced him to miss last week's Open 13 tournament in Marseille.

But having overcome that problem, Murray then succumbed to illness and withdrew from his match against the Frenchman three hours before he was due on court.

It is a blow for Murray, who is due to represent Great Britain against Ukraine in the Davis Cup in Glasgow next week. He appeared well yesterday as he cruised to a 6-2, 6-3 victory over France's Arnaud Clement 6-2, 6-3. Murray said: "I dictated the match with my serve. I didn't give him many chances after my first couple of service games."

Murray's exit leaves world No3 Novak Djokovic as the only member of the sport's top four left in the event. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer both pulled out last week, with the Spaniard taking time out so that he can recover from his knee injury and the Swiss citing his ongoing back problem.