British number one Cameron Norrie began the defence of his Lyon Open with a straightforward two-set win over Belgium's David Goffin in the last 16.
The world number 14 cruised to a 6-3 6-4 triumph in one hour and 29 minutes to set up a quarter-final showdown with Argentina's Sebastian Baez.
Taking control of proceedings from the off, Norrie broke in the second game of the match after back-to-back double faults from Goffin, who had missed a chance of his own to break in the opening game.
The Belgian - who memorably lost to Norrie in five sets during last year's Wimbledon quarter-finals - did not bring up another break point in the first set, but he raced into an unexpected 3-0 lead in the second.
However, Norrie dusted himself down and won six of the next seven games while also beating away three more break points for Goffin, two of which came while he was serving for the match.
"It's such a special tournament for me, winning my first clay 250 this time last year, and I really like this tournament," Norrie said on the court. "It's pretty unique, in a cycling velodrome in the middle of a park, and it's always the start of summer for me. I feel really good here... It's good to be back and good to get a straight-sets win today."
Norrie won his fourth ATP Tour title at last year's Lyon Open, overcoming Slovakia's Alex Molcan after losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final of the 2021 edition.
The 27-year-old joins compatriot Jack Draper in the quarter-finals following his straight-sets win over Miomir Kecmanovic on Tuesday, and the 21-year-old tackles Francisco Cerundolo on Thursday before potentially facing Norrie in an all-British semi-final. body check tags ::
