Gilles Simon eased to a straight sets victory over Radek Stepanek at the Masters Cup in Shanghai.

The world No 9 beat his Czech opponent 6-1, 6-4 and must now hope that Andy Murray can beat Roger Federer if he is to progress to the semi-finals. Simon, 23, is only playing at the season-ending event after Rafael Nadal pulled out through injury.

Stepanek, meanwhile, stepped in as a replacement for the injured Andy Roddick earlier this week after interrupting his holiday in Thailand and the 29-year-old struggled to deal with the young Frenchman as he surrendered in just 65 minutes.

Simon grabbed an early break to take a 2-0 lead in the first set and eventually served out the set in just 25 minutes. Simon broke again in the first game of the second set and, after a brief spell of resistance from Stepanek, the Frenchman secured the win with the early break proving the difference.

Novak Djokovic and Nikolay Davydenko have already advanced to the semi-finals, which will take place tomorrow.