Coric, ranked 59th in the world. claimed a convincing 6-3, 6-3 win at La Caja Mágica.

The Croatian arrived at the tournament in good form following his first Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour title in Morocco in April.

The 20-year-old broke his British opponent three times in the opening set before a solitary break in the second was enough to secure his second victory over the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic champion, having also beaten him at the Dubai Championships in 2015. 

He will now face Austria's Dominic Thiem in the last eight.

Thiem came from a set down to beat Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 on the clay.

World number two Novak Djokovic had no such problems today as he also reached the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.

Belgium's David Goffin is also through to the last eight after producing a dominant display against Canada's Milos Raonic to record a 6-4, 6-2 success.

The Belgian will now play Spain's Rafael Nadal after he saw off Australia's Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 6-1.

Japan's Kei Nishikori saw off David Ferrer of Spain 6-4, 6-3.

The women's draw saw Romania's Simona Halep, the defending champion, move into the semi-finals.

Halep looked at ease as she claimed a 6-1, 6-1 win over Coco Vandeweghe of the United States.

She will now play Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia for a place in the final after she overcame Kiki Bertens of The Netherlands 6-3, 6-3.

France's Kristina Mladenovic also made it through to the final four.

The 23-year-old claimed a 6-4, 6-4 success over Romania's Sorana Cîrstea to set up a semi-final with Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia.

The tournament's eighth seed defeated Canada's Eugenie Bouchard 6-4, 6-0 in today's final match.