Andy Murray insists he will have to hit a new level if he is to reach the quarter-finals at the Rolex Monte Carlo Masters for the first time.

Murray breezed past Romania's Victor Hanesecu and is now likely to face Croatian world number 18, Marin Cilic - should be beat Italian qualifier Fabio Fognini on Wednesday.

"Marin is obviously a tough player," said Murray

"He's got a big serve and he moves well for someone so tall. A lot of guys of around 6ft 6in struggle for movement on clay, but he's good and he hits the ball hard on both sides."

Few give Murray a chance of reaching a third consecutive Masters final in Monaco - especially with Rafael Nadal, the king of clay, in his half of the draw.

However, this week is all about ranking points for Murray, who has few to defend after last year's brief campaign on the clay.

World number three Novak Djokovic - who is just 170 points ahead of Murray - won his second round match but Murray is already aiming higher.

"If I have a very good clay-court season then there's no reason why I cannot get close-ish to Rafa and closer to Roger (Federer)," he added, referring the world's top two.

"However, if I have a bad tournament and they pick up all the points, then it's tougher for me to catch them this year."