Murray edges past Wawrinka to enter R2 of Cincinnati Masters

CINCINNATI: The former World No. 1 Andy Murray showed his fighting qualities on Monday as he defeated Stan Wawrinka in the opening round of the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati.

Murray registered a hard-fought victory against long-time rival Stan Wawrinka 7-6(3), 5-7, 7-5 to advance to the next round. The 35-year-old Scot consistently found depth on his watertight groundstrokes as he forced the Swiss into making mistakes, who combined moments of erratic play.

After both stayed firm on serve, a tie-break was left to decide the opener, with Murray claiming the set when Wawrinka shot a forehand long.

In the third set, the Scot fought hard from 0-2 down, eventually breaking to lead 6-5 before successfully holding to triumph. "The court is pretty lively when the weather is like this. Physically I feel tired," Murray said in his on-court interview.

"I had some issues with cramp during the match, the same as Washington, so that is something I need to get on top of. "I tried to take the ball on a little more and finish points at the net. I wasn't that successful when I came up, but the intention was there. I was a little more offensive on the second-serve return. Last game I was just fighting, trying to find a way through," he added.

"He is very different to how Stan plays, being a lefty. Flat on the backhand, heavy topspin on the forehand. We have spent a little bit of time on the court together, so there won't be many surprises out there for me," Murray said when looking ahead to his match against Norrie.