Andy Murray pleased with performance in opening-round win in the Western & Southern Open

Britain’s Andy Murray said he felt ‘physically good’ after his opening-round win in the Western & Southern Open at Flushing Meadows.

Murray beat American Frances Tiafoe 7-6, 3-6, 6-1 in his first ATP Tour match of the year.

The two-time champion will next face German fifth seed Alexander Zverev at the warm-up for the US Open at the same New York venue from August 31.

Andy Murray is pleased with his physical performance in his first ATP game since November

The former World No 1 saw off Frances Tiafoe over three sets to advance to the next round

‘Physically, I thought I did pretty well,’ said Murray. ‘I moved maybe better than I expected to. The first few matches back, when I started playing singles last year, I moved way worse than I did here, so that was positive.

‘My tennis could have been better. I thought I could have played a bit better. I guess that will come, the more matches I play.

‘But I always need to see as well how I recover from a match like that, because although I felt good during the match, things can sometimes stiffen up and hurt a bit afterwards.

He will play Alexander Zverev in the next round of the Western & Southern Open in New York

‘I’m happy with how I did here. I would like to have played a bit better, but physically I was good. That is the most important thing for me, because that hasn’t been the case for the past 10 months.

‘I would say I probably have lower expectations. I know the tennis will come, but it’s also not going to come back immediately, so it’s just not to expect, straight off the bat, to be playing perfect.’

The men’s tournament is the first ATP event since the Tour was suspended in March because of the Covid-19 pandemic.