Andy Murray is into the second round at the US Open after a 7-5 6-3 6-3 victory over 24th seed Francisco Cerundolo.
The Brit earned his first straight sets win at a Grand Slam for five years after ousting out the 24th seed.
Murray produced a dominant performance on return and, despite failing to serve out the set in all three sets on the first time of asking, held on to seal victory.
The 2012 champion will now face either John Millman or Emilio Nava in the second round.
Murray went down an early break in the opening game as Cerundolo took the match to the Brit with some brutal baseline play.
However the Brit produced a good response on return, sealing four games in a row to take a 4-1 lead as Cerundolo struggled to figure out the tactics of Murray.
Both players produced a good level from the baseline with Murray looking to be aggressive at the net.
As the set went on, Murray was beginning to lack consistency in his shot-making and eventually he would pay the price for a lack of concentration.
A poor service game in game nine and Cerundolo capitalised to seal the break back for 4-5.
Then came some controversial moments which saw a double bounce not given in Murray’s favour.
The crowd booed as they saw it twice on the big screen but then Cerundolo showed a classy act of sportsmanship to give the point to Murray for 0-30.
Cerundolo then upped his level of play as he held for 5-5 as the best spell of the match would occur for both players.
Eventually though it was Murray who would grind out the set as he displayed some world-class shot-making and a double fault from Cerundolo handed the set to the former champion.
That would prove to be a significant moment in the match as Murray would control the next two sets as Cerundolo couldn’t assert his power into the match.
Murray went up a double break in both sets with Cerundolo lacking quality to counter the Brit’s high-quality returns.
In both sets Murray once again failed to serve it out but Murray would claim victory in two hours and 40 minutes on a blistering hot day in New York.
Murray then thanked the Argentinian at the net for his brilliant sportsmanship in the opening set.
After the match Murray admitted it was a tough match but was happy to get through, “That felt like five sets to me. Very tricky conditions. Very humid and hot. I was really happy with the way I got through that one,” Murray said in his on-court interview.
That victory was Murray’s first straight sets win at a Grand Slam since Wimbledon 2017 where he beat Benoit Paire in the last 16.
Next up for Murray will be John Millman or Emilio Nava on Wednesday in the second round.
