MADRID: British No.1 Andy Murray made the perfect start to his clay-court campaign with a battling victory over Nicolas Almagro in the second round of Mutua Madrid Open, ARY News has learnt.
Murray made short work of Spanish professional tennis player of Arabic descent, Nicolas Almargo registering 6-1 1-6 6-4 over the world number 24.
Murray, who is still searching for a coach to replace Ivan Lendl, next meets Colombia's Santiago Giraldo.
Almagro is among the most dangerous players in the world on clay, as he showed by beating Rafael Nadal in Barcelona two weeks ago.
But the Spaniard is also erratic and, apparently troubled by a foot injury, he offered little in the first set.
Murray completely dominated the first set racing into a 5-0 lead, and it was all Almagro could do to avoid a love set.
Murray broke serve again at the start of the second and it looked like it would be a comfortable evening but Almagro gained a foothold with a break back and on that the match turned.
The Spaniard sensed an opportunity and began to show just what a talent he is, overpowering Murray with a run of six games in a row.
The Scot knew he needed to dig in at the beginning of the decider and he did, saving three break points in the third game and clinched the set with a comfortable win.
