Andy Murray into Cincinnati last 16 as James Ward goes out

Andy Murray is ninth in the world rankings

Britain's Andy Murray progressed to the last 16 of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati with a 6-3 6-3 win over Portugal's Joao Sousa.

The number eight seed broke Sousa, 25, in his opening service game and wrapped up victory in an hour and 11 minutes.

Murray, 27, faces American John Isner - last year's runner-up - in the next round.

British number two James Ward, 27, lost 6-2 6-2 to France's Julien Benneteau in the second round.

"I got the win and that's the most important thing," said Murray, who was beaten by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Rogers Cup quarter-finals in Toronto last week.

"It's very different conditions here this week and a lot of the guys are struggling to control the ball, so I was happy to come through. It's a good start."

Qualifier Ward, who upset Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the first round, was broken twice in each set by world number 41 Benneteau.

Benneteau faces a last-16 tie with Poland's Jerzy Janowicz, a 6-4 3-6 6-3 winner over Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov.

Eleventh seed Isner, 29, beat Australian qualifier Marinko Matosevic 6-3 7-6.