Murray beats Copil to reach third round in Madrid
World number one Andy Murray progressed to the third round of the Madrid Open with a straight-set victory over Romanian Marius Copil.
The Briton, who had a bye in the first round, claimed a 6-4 6-3 victory.
Murray, 29, was not at his best in the opening exchanges but broke world number 104 Copil at 5-4 to take the first set and pounced again at 3-2 in the second.
He will face Borna Coric or Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the last 16.
It was a solid display from Murray against a potentially dangerous opponent as he prepares for the French Open, which starts on 28 May.
Copil will move into the world’s top 100 next week and the 6ft 4ins Romanian was far more aggressive in the first set.
It took Murray until the 10th game to break his serve, and he finally prevailed through attacking Copil’s shaky backhand.
The Briton looked far more focused in the second set as he took control and wrapped up victory in one hour and 23 minutes – with just nine unforced errors.
Mixed fortunes on clay
Murray reached the final in Madrid last year, where he was beaten by Novak Djokovic, and took the title in 2015, but has had a mixed clay-court season so far.
After taking a month out due to an elbow injury and withdrawing from Britain’s Davis Cup quarter-final defeat by France, he lost in the Monte Carlo Masters last 16 on his return.
The Scot was beaten by Austrian Dominic Thiem in the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open last month.