Top-seed Andy Murray eased his way into the quarter-finals of Munich’s ATP tournament on Thursday with a straight sets win over qualifier Mischa Zverev to begin his French Open preparations.
Britain’s world number three needed just 74 minutes to enjoy a 6-2, 6-2 win over the Russian-born German qualifier, who is ranked 650 places below the Scot, to start his clay-court season to prepare for Roland Garros.
Having dominated the first set, Murray had more problems dealing with the 27-year-old left-hander Zverev in the second, but still defended all six break points he faced for a comfortable victory.
“It wasn’t too easy, he had a different style to most other players and it was tricky playing against a left-hander, but I got the important points,” said the Scotsman, who is also playing doubles in Munich.
“He was returning from a long way back.
“My forehand went better than my backhand, but it was a good first match for me.”
This was Murray’s first singles match since marrying Kim Sears earlier this month. He has already made the most of his time in Bavaria by watching Bayern Munich’s German Cup semi-final defeat to Borussia Dortmund live on Tuesday.
Murray faces a tougher test in Friday’s quarter-finals when he plays Lukas Rosol after the Czech, ranked 41st in the world, booked his last eight berth with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky in their second-round match.