Andy Murray opened up his Dubai Championships campaign with a 6-4 7-5 victory over Gilles Muller this afternoon.
The opening set was tightly contested, with the third game alone lasting 20 minutes.
However, Australian Open finalist Murray eventually broke for a 5-3 lead, before going on to wrap up the set with what was his fifth set point.
Breaks were traded early on in the second set, but Murray crucially broke his opponent from Luxembourg for a second time soon after and that proved to be the defining moment as he secured the win in one hour and 45 minutes.
The new world number three, who earlier today was named in the Great Britain squad to face USA in the Davis Cup next month, will now face Portugal's Joao Sousa for a place in the third round.
