Murray Through in Moscow

Andy Murray continued his recent revival with a routine 6-2, 6-4 first-round victory over Korolev Evgueni at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

The 70 places separating world number 18 Murray and his Russian opponent were immediately apparent as the Scot gained an early break to steal the initiative. Evgueni, 19, was rarely in the contest in the first set despite the backing of home support and was broken for a second time as Murray took just 33 minutes to take a one-set lead.

The British number one, a finalist in Metz last week, improved his first serve vastly in the second set but Evgueni improved too and proved a far sterner test as the game progressed. The third seed forced just two break points on the Russian's serve and managed to convert one, giving him the break required to seal the match.

Waiting for him in the next round is Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic, whom Murray defeated in the last 32 in France only last week.