• BNP Paribas Masters

Murray plays the bad guy in Paris victory

Andy Murray has never lost to Paul-Henri Mathieu © PA Photos

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Andy Murray's bid for a major confidence-booster ahead of next week's ATP World Tour Finals got off to a good start on Wednesday with victory over home favourite Paul-Henri Mathieu at the BNP Paribas Masters.

Murray will be the star attraction in front of his home fans in London next week, but first he is looking to win his first ATP title since winning the US Open. The British No. 1 faced former world No. 12 Mathieu in Paris, winning 7-5 6-3.

Boasting a 4-0 career record against the Frenchman heading into Wednesday's match, Murray was always favourite to beat his rival - who is on the comeback trail after a serious knee injury. However, Mathieu arrived in Paris in form after reaching the semi-finals in Basle last week.

Murray has never been past the quarter-finals in six previous attempts, and he had to save a break point in his opening service game against Mathieu.

Instead it was the world No. 3 who broke at 5-5, penetrating Mathieu's delivery to love before closing out the set.

The retrieval skills of Murray proved a source of frustration for Mathieu, who did not play poorly, and one such point provided the Brit with a further break at the start of the second. Showing great hustle, Murray battled to a position where he could unleash a backhand pass from the middle of the court, clipping the baseline upon review.

Mathieu found a quick reply to signal his ongoing presence in the match, but Murray always appeared to be more comfortable from the baseline. Another break allowed him to close out the match, which he did by breaking again to seal victory in an hour and 33 minutes.

Murray will meet Jerzy Janowicz of Poland in the next round, after Janowicz shocked Marin Cilic in straight sets.

"I felt okay, I served pretty well, struggled a bit on return, especially at the beginning," Murray told Sky Sports. "I struggled a bit with my timing as well but it got a lot better towards the end.

"I've been playing very well in practice and felt quite confident coming into today but when the match started the conditions are much different. I've never played my best tennis at this tournament and I'd like to change that."

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