Andy Murray returned to the ATP Tour on Monday after last competing at Wimbledon, reaching the second round of the Cincinnati Masters with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Frenchman Richard Gasquet.
The three-time Grand Slam champion who owns two titles here and played the 2016 final, has been struggling over the summer with a groin strain.
Murray hammered 14 aces and broke three times in the win lasting just under two hours.
After three games which lasted for a total of 20 minutes to start, Murray grabbed a 5-3 lead, which he lost a game later before re-breaking to win the first set 6-4.
Gasquet was broken in the final game of the match after saving a match point before Murray prevailed.
Also, birthday boy Jannik Sinner turned 20 on a rain-interrupted day and celebrated with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Argentine Federico Delbonis.
The young gun was joined in the second round after a delayed start by 34-year-old Italian compatriot Fabio Fognini, who joined the party with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 win over Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia in a first-time meeting.
Argentine Diego Schwartzman turned 29 on the day, defeating British number one Dan Evans 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 after more than two hours.
South African Lloyd Harris earned a place in the second round against Tokyo Olympic Gold medallist Alexander Zverev as he beat Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 6-4 with the help of 11 aces.
Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime overcame his first-round loss a week ago at home to beat Marton Fucsovics 7-6 (7/0), 6-3 in a match interrupted by the rain which plagued play all day.
Dominik Koepfer won an all-German first-rounder with his defeat of Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6 (7/2), 5-7, 6-3.
In the women’s draw at the joint event, Roland Garros finalist Barbora Krejcikova made a singles debut at the midwest venue as she defeated Russian Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 6-2.
Czech 12th seed Petra Kvitova, a two-time semi-finalist, beat 2019 champion Madison Keys 7-5, 6-4,avenging a defeat by the American in January, 2020, in Brisbane.
Spain’s Paula Badosa saved five match points in two and three-quarter hours to get past Petra Martic 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (11/9) and next takes on third seed and Montreal semi-finalist Aryna Sabalenka.
Swiss Jil Teichmann stopped Romania’s Sorana Cirstea with the loss of just two games.
Former French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko advanced past Slovene Tamara Zidansek 7-5, 6-1. British qualifier Heather Watson put out Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, ending a four-match loss streak that began in Birmingham prior to Wimbledon.