Andy Murray kicked off his Australian Open campaign with a solid straight-sets victory over qualifier Yuki Bhambri.
As temperatures plummet below freezing in many parts of Britain, Murray dispatched his opponent 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(3) after 2 hours 12 minutes in warm Melbourne conditions.
Bhambri, a former junior world No.1 and 2009 junior Australian Open champion, was making his Grand Slam debut but was not fazed by the Margaret Court Arena.
The Indian took a 4-1 lead in the final set before Murray, cheered on by his army of fans, clawed his way back to win in a tie-break.
Murray fired down 13 aces in the match and was pleased with his serving performance.
The British No.1 said: "I thought I served very well the whole match - that was the most pleasing thing for me. Hopefully I'll get a little bit better and a bit quicker after my serve and after my returns."
After beating the lowest ranked player in the tournament, Murray added: "I thought it was a good start. I thought he played well; he was very aggressive and he was right up on the baseline the whole match.
"That made it difficult because it didn't give me much rhythm or a lot of time."
Murray will return to the court on Wednesday to face Australian world No.81 Marinko 'Mad Dog' Matosevic, who he recently beat at the Hopman Cup.
Head 2 Head:
| Match-up |
Times Played |
Winner |
Most Recent Result |
| Murray v Matosevic |
3 |
Murray x 3 |
AM 6-3, 6-2 Hopman Cup 2015 |
(View full draw)
Matosevic so far:
Round 1: 6-4, 6-7(5), 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 winner over Russian Alexander Kudryavtsev
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