Andy Murray opened his clay court season with a comfortable win over Mischa Zverev, from Germany, at the Munich Open.
The Britain number 1, who is currently playing under new coach Jonas Bjorkman for the 1st time, managed to win 6-2 6-2 in just 75 minutes.
Murray, who had a bye in the 1st round, is the top seed and his Munich debut was also his first match since getting married on 11 April.
The Scot, 27, will face Lukas Rosol from Czech Republic in round 3 as he looks to win his first ATP title on clay. What is more, his chances have been enhanced with the withdrawal of French second seed Gael Monfils.
Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut is the highest ranked of his possible opponents at 16 in the world, while Italy’s Fabio Fognini failed to build on last week’s win over Rafael Nadal in Barcelona as he lost 6-3 6-0 to Austria’s Dominic Thiem.
Murray swept through the first 4 games of his opening match and Zverev was unable to recover.
The German, 27, is the elder brother of rising teenage star Alexander Zverev, but with a ranking of 653 it was unlikely he would unduly trouble the world number 3 from Scotland.
Murray saw off some resistance in the 2nd set in the form of 6 break points – 3 in an edgy final game – but Zverev could not convert and the Briton closed it out on serve.
“It wasn’t too easy,” said Murray, who is also playing doubles in Munich.
“He had a different style to most other players and it was tricky playing against a left-hander, but I got the important points. He was returning from a long way back.
“My forehand went better than my backhand, but it was a good first match for me.”
Novak Djokovic – world number one, has withdrawn from next week’s Madrid Open to rest before the Rome Masters and French Open at the end of May.
It is the 2nd consecutive year the Serb has pulled out of the tournament.
A statement issued by the organizers read: “He’ll take time out before continuing with his planned calendar.”
The Australian Open champion, 27, has been in fine form this year, becoming the first man to win the opening three Masters Events of the season. He hopes to complete the career Grand Slam with a first title at the French Open, which starts on 24 May.
Murray wins, Djokovic withdraws from Madrid Open
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