British number one Andy Murray has admitted that he hasn't started his matches at Indian Wells as strongly as he should have.

The Scotsman, who won the US Open last year, dropped the first set in his second-round win over Evgeny Donskoy. While he completed a straight-sets victory over Lu Yen-Hsun, he has rued allowing his opponent to take control of early points.

"I need to start games a bit better because I was letting him dictate a lot of points," Murray told BBC Radio Five Live. "He was able to change direction of the ball and that left me a bit flat-footed at some points.

"I felt a bit sluggish because he was so sharp, taking it so early at the beginning of the match but that improved as the match went on."

The 25-year-old will take on the lowest-ranked player remaining in the tournament, Carlos Berlocq, in the fourth round in California.