• Rogers Cup

Murray crushes Kyrgios in Toronto

Andy Murray was in scintillating form against Nick Kyrgios at the Rogers Cup © Getty Images

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Andy Murray opened his hard court season with by thrashing Nick Kyrgios 6-2 6-2 at the Rogers Cup in Toronto.

Murray was promoted to eighth seed following Rafael Nadal's withdrawal in Toronto, meaning he received a bye to the second round, and was handed a potential banana skin against the Australian young gun who burst onto the scene when he defeated then world No.1 Nadal at Wimbledon.

But Murray needed just 54 minutes to see off Kyrgios in his first competitive match since his title defence at SW19 was ended in disappointing fashion by Grigor Dimitrov.

Murray dominated the match with his serve, producing seven aces in the two sets to book a clash with Richard Gasquet, who came from behind to see off Ivo Karlovic 5-7 7-6(5) 6-3.

Novak Djokovic's relief was clear for all to see © Getty Images

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"I knew it was going to be a tricky match - he has obviously got a lot of confidence with the way Wimbledon went and winning his first match here but I played to play with a lot of variety, which has always been my game really," Murray told Sky Sports after the match.

"I maybe went away from that a little bit at some points over the last year or so but that's when I play my best tennis and it worked well today."

Murray, who recently claimed he wanted to work with new coach Amelie Mauresmo for the long term, added of the partnership: "We work on all aspects of the game. I served well today - that was important. I've worked extremely hard physically, by far the hardest I've worked since my surgery [in September 2013] and the hardest I've worked in the last couple of years.

"My legs are strong and I'm moving well around the court and that's a big positive for me."

World No.1 and Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic had a far less comfortable time as he scraped past Gael Monfils 6-2 6-7(4) 7-6(2).

After finishing the lopsided tie-breaker, Djokovic fist-pumped and yelled in relief at the end of the match that lasted just shy of three hours.

"The start of the match was really good. I felt comfortable on the court, penetrating the ball through the court, coming to the net and serving efficiently," Djokovic told Sky Sports.

"I had a couple of break points at 1-1 or 2-2 in the second set and then suddenly he was back in the match. I allowed him in with some unforced errors and I didn't capitalise on the opportunities which were presented.

"It was a true fight and it could have gone either way, we both tried our best. I wasn't happy with the last hour and 20 minutes or so. But I'm glad to be able to win against Gael. It was probably the toughest draw in the second round."

Djokovic will next play another Frenchman, 13th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who edged compatriot Jeremy Chardy 7-6(5) 6-4.

Murray and Djokovic will meet in the quarter-finals should they come through Thursday's third-round ties.

Meanwhile, fifth seed David Ferrer topped American qualifier Michael Russell 6-4 2-6 6-1 and seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov beat Donald Young 4-6 6-2 6-3.

Canada's Milos Raonic also came back to beat American Jack Sock 4-6 7-6(2) 7-6 (4) and will face Julien Benneteau after he upset Ernests Gulbis 7-6(4) 6-3.

In other results, Marin Cilic saw off Malek Jaziri 4-6 6-0 7-6(4) and will next face Roger Federer, who won on Tuesday, while Kevin Anderson faces Stan Wawrinka after seeing off 16th seed Fabio Fognini 7-5 6-2.

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