Andy Murray produced one of his best performances of recent months in sweeping David Goffin aside in straight sets in round one of Indian Wells.
This was Murray’s first competitive appearance since admitting he’s unlikely to play “much past the summer” and the former world one wasted no time as he eased to just his third victory of the year.
Goffin is a former top-ten player but Murray has long had the measure of the Belgian, with the Scot going into this first-round clash with a 7-0 head-to-head record.
Murray, who’s currently ranked 61st in the world, raced to a first set lead, closing it out 6-3 and after securing an early break of serve in the second set, duly finished the match off 6-2 to move into round two.
“It’s a match-up that I’ve enjoyed over the years,” Murray said about facing Goffin.
“We play a similar kind of tennis but I’m a bit bigger and I’m able to serve maybe a bit faster and get more free points.
“When you’re always having to fight for points on your own serve, you feel more under pressure but I got a lot of free points off my serve.
“That freed me up in the return games and I was able to strike the ball well from the back of the court, defended well when I had to.”
Murray will be in action in round two today, where he will face world number five, Andrey Rublev of Russia.
Meanwhile, Rafa Nadal’s comeback from injury was dealt a blow as he was forced to withdraw from the tournament.
Indian Wells would have been the Spaniard’s first competitive appearance since the 1st of January after being sidelined for almost a year with a hip flexor injury but on the eve of his first round match, the 37-year-old admitted he is “not ready to play at the highest level”.
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