Andy Murray vs. Joao Sousa: Score, Reaction from 2015 Australian Open

It's probably safe to say Andy Murray has put his disappointing 2014 season well behind him. 

The 27-year-old Scot continued his domination of the competition at the Australian Open on Friday, crushing World No. 55 Joao Sousa, 6-1, 6-1, 7-5, to advance to the fourth round. 

That's nine sets in a row for Murray to start the tournament, and he has looked absolutely clinical in the process. Friday's win was the best of the bunch thus far, as he hit nine aces and 39 winners, recorded seven breaks and took care of his opponent in just over two hours. 

More than just the numbers, Murray looked fantastic. His first serve was as powerful as ever, he was crushing winners with both his forehand and backhand and he looked extremely spry, moving all over the court and making some truly special shots. 

The entire package was on display, and Jose Morgado of Portuguese newspaper Record put it simply: 

Murray controlled the match from the onset. Coming out of the gate with an aggressive mentality, he immediately had Sousa on his heels and hit 12 winners in the 31-minute opening set. 

BBC's David Law noticed a no-nonsense approach from the clearly superior opponent: 

Murray continued to cruise from there, doing pretty much whatever he wanted before suffering a slight hiccup midway through the third set, as a double fault and a handful of unforced errors led to Sousa's first break. 

That seemed to invoke some confidence in the Portuguese international, who to his credit made some tremendous shots down the stretch. But Murray was ultimately too much, earning a final break to seal the match. 

The Wentworth Courier's Jessica Clement believes the sky is the limit for Murray:

The World No. 6 has yet to see much resistance thus far, but he'll get his first real test in the fourth round against No. 10 seed Grigor Dimitrov. 

If he continues to look this clinical, this dominant and this energetic against the talented young Bulgarian, it will be difficult not to call him the favorite to reach a fourth final at the Australian Open.