Andy Murray had to battle past Corentin Moutet in straight sets to reach the second round at the US Open.
The former champion took nearly three hours to beat the eccentric Frenchman and reach the second round.
A competitive opening set was played out between the duo before Murray surged to the opening set by winning the last four games with some vintage Murray dropshots.
The second set was more difficult as Murray took his foot off the gas which allowed Moutet to play some aggressive tennis.
After breaking for a 3-2 lead, Moutet edged towards a couple of service holds before pressing the self-destruct button by letting his emotions get the best of him.
This allowed Murray to reel off four games in a row to take a two set lead as Moutet’s frustrations grew after missing simple shots at the net.
In the third set, both players had to deal with big injury scares but it was Murray who was clinical when it mattered most as he broke in the eighth game for a 5-3 lead.
The 2012 champion had to overcome a late surge from Moutet to book a place in the second round in New York.
It was a victory which completes a big landmark for Murray as he sealed his 200th Grand Slam win.
After the match Murray acknowledged that he is heading in the right direction, “The preparation was slightly tricky because I missed Cincinnati and had to slowly build my serving up, but I was quite happy with how I served today,” Murray told Sky Sports.
“I felt good and moving onto the next one now. I’m at my highest ranking since I had the metal hip put in, I’m happy with that.
“It’s not been an easy journey, I would like to be ranked higher, but this is the best I’ve played consistently since 2017. Happy to still be going and progressing and keep pushing my ranking up.”
Murray will now face either Alex Molcan or Grigor Dimitrov in the second round on Thursday.
