Britain’s Andy Murray swept past Nicolas Mahut in the first round of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. The top seed – in action for the first time since his Australian Open final defeat by Novak Djokovic – took one hour and 33 minutes to beat veteran Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 6-3, 6-2 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Murray – a winner of the tournament in 2009 – showed no ill effects from his loss to Djokovic in Melbourne as he did not face a single break point in the opening set. The Scot converted four of nine break points and coasted into a 5-0 lead in the second set before Mahut briefly rallied, breaking Murray for the first and only time in the game before the favourite closed out for victory. Murray, 27, hit 36 winners and only 16 unforced errors against Mahut, 33.
Murray revealed he reaped the benefit of a brief break from the sport in the aftermath of his near-miss in Melbourne.
“I tried to rest a bit. I didn’t practice or go to the gym,” he said. “I got here early and tried to get used to the conditions and felt quite fresh.
“I feel better than I did at this point last year when I was still having issues with my back. I played some good tennis in Australia and so far here it’s been a good start.”
Italy’s Andreas Seppi maintained his momentum after reaching the final in Zagreb last week – where he lost to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez – as he claimed a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3 victory over Dutch wild card Robin Haase. In a match that lasted two hours and 14 minutes, Seppi converted on six of 11 break point opportunities to advance to the third round. He will now meet defending champion Tomas Berdych.
In doubles action, Scotland’s Colin Fleming and his English partner Jonathan Marray went down 6-2, 7-6 (2) to fellow Briton Dominic Inglot and Florin Mergea of Romania, while Spanish No 2 seeds Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez notched a 6-4, 6-2 win over Philipp Kohlschreiber and Jurgen Melzer.
Gael Monfils upset No 7 seed Roberto Bautista Agut 7-5, 7-6 (5) to move into his second quarter-final of the season after a strong showing in Montpellier last week. The Frenchman served up nine aces in the one-hour and 41-minute match.
Andy Murray vs Nicolas Mahut, 11/02/2015, 14:10 GMT, Match Center
Andy Murray trashes Nicolas Mahut in Rotterdam first round
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