Britain's Andy Murray booked his place in the second round of the Stuttgart Open with a two-set victory over Australian qualifier Christopher O'Connell on Tuesday.
The three-time major winner had begun the grass court season by reaching the semi-finals of the Surbiton Trophy and took just one hour and 36 minutes to get the better of O'Connell 6-4 6-3.
Murray endured a nightmare start to proceedings as O'Connell raced into an early 3-0 lead in the first set, but Murray won six of the next seven games to take control of the contest.
The unseeded Murray posted seven aces and won 85% of points on his first serve throughout the contest, although he failed to take eight of his 12 chances to break the qualifier.
Nevertheless, the 35-year-old cruised into the second round to set up a showdown with Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik, who knocked Murray out of the Indian Wells Masters in straight sets back in March.
Should Murray get the better of Bublik, he could potentially meet world number four Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals, while the likes of Hubert Hurkacz, Denis Shapovalov and Nick Kyrgios are also gunning for glory in the ATP 250 event.
Ben Knapton
