Andy Murray ran down a depleted Milos Raonic 6-2, 6-0 on Friday to power into his third semi-final at the Monte Carlo Masters.

The second seed was always in command against the Canadian who has been suffering with the return of a right leg injury which troubled him at the Australian Open two months ago.

Murray will await the winner from eight-time champion and fifth seed Rafael Nadal and 2014 Monte Carlo winner Stan Wawrinka, the reigning French Open titleholder.

Murray has lost both of his previous semi-finals to Nadal, in 2009 and 2011. The Scot collected the first two clay titles of his career last season, winning Munich and Madrid.

Raonic, playing a quarter-final in the Principality for the third consecutive edition, was never in the match, failing to find a single ace in his 66-minute defeat.

Murray said that while his win might not have been pretty, it still gave him confidence after struggling through his first two contests this week.

“I’ve played a lot of tennis, though it has all not been of the highest quality,” said the 28-year-old. “I’ve been able to learn from my previous matches. Today I served one of my best matches.

“Milos was not at his best, he can certainly serve better than today. I’m looking forward to the semi-finals.”

Murray’s win improved his standing against Raonic to 5-3 as he backed up a semi-final win over Raonic in Melbourne.

Raonic has managed to put together a solid season despite his physical setbacks, now standing 20-4.