• Australian Open

Murray unhappy with 'tricky' opening win

Andy Murray criticised his own performance and cracked a racket in frustration despite securing his place in the second round of the Australian Open on Monday.

Murray defeated world No.317 Yuki Bhambri in straight sets on Margaret Court Arena, but was made to work hard to claim a 6-3 6-4 7-6(3) victory in two hours and 13 minutes.

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The 27-year-old had to come back from 4-1 down in the third set and said: "The whole match he made it very difficult. He played very aggressive, he is very talented and he made it tough.

"I'd never hit with him or seen him play before which made it tricky. He had a bad injury last year and should not be ranked 300 in the world. I expect to see him much higher this year."

India's Bhambri was making his grand slam debut at Melbourne Park and was the lowest-ranked player in the drawer. Despite the challenge from his opponent, Murray served 13 aces and was at least happy to see improvement in one aspect of his game.

"I thought he played well; he was very aggressive and he was right up on the baseline the whole match," Murray added via BBC Sport. "That made it difficult because it didn't give me much rhythm or a lot of time.

"I thought I served very well the whole match - that was the most pleasing thing for me. Hopefully I'll get a little bit better and a bit quicker after my serve and after my returns.

"I didn't serve well last year. I tried to make some changes after coming back from surgery and it didn't help at all. I went back to serving how I used to and that's really helped me. I've felt a lot more comfortable."

Sixth-seed Murray will next play home favourite Marinko Matosevic in the second round on Wednesday.

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