Andy Murray returned to winning ways after five weeks without a competitive match.

The world number three showed little signs of rustiness and he brushed aside France's Jeremy Chardy in double-quick time, advancing 6-4, 6-2 in just 94 minutes at the Montreal Masters.

It was the first encounter between the pair but Chardy, who beat Yen-Hsun Lu in the first round, was simply no match for the British number one, who produced an intelligent and varied serving display for a dominant victory.

Murray will now play either Gael Monfils or Juan Carlos Ferrero for a place in quarter-finals, former world number one Ferrero destroyed Lleyton Hewitt 6-1, 6-4 in their first round encounter.

"It thought it was very good," said Murray, who has spent the last few weeks training in Miami and will overtake Rafael Nadal and become world number two, if he wins in Canada this week.

"I want to play as many matches as possible here to get back into the swing of things. I've worked really hard for this stretch of the season and it's good to see that some of that has already paid off.

"Sometimes after a lay-off you get a bit nervous but I was really pleased with the good tennis that I played.

"He served very well and I just stayed solid and forced him into errors. When I was down in games I served big and that was encouraging."

Murray will also be relieved to complete his second round match just before heavy showers forced play to be abandoned.