Andy Murray strolled into the third round of the Shanghai Masters without playing a game after the withdrawal of Florian Mayer.
The German cited a rib injury for his non-appearance in China on Wednesday.
Having already received a first-round bye, third-seeded Murray will face Gilles Simon or Alexandr Dolgopolov for a spot in the quarter-finals, while second seed Noval Djokovic eased through his round two match.
Murray, champion in China for the last two seasons, admitted earlier this week he was slowly adjusting to life as a Grand Slam winner.
The US Open champion told Sky Sports: “It’s been more fun and I’ve felt less pressure to perform in every single match and tournament.
“I always felt I was trying to prove something and I’ll just try to keep improving. The courts here are slower and the balls are faster so it takes a while to get used to that.”
Serbia’s Djokovic, desperate to get his world No 1 ranking back from Roger Federer, overcame Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-3 6-2.
Fourth seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic defeated Italian Andreas Seppi 6-3 6-3.