Andy Murray came from a set down to beat Spain’s Pablo Andujar in the first round of the Mexican Open and now expects a similar test from his next opponent Joao Sousa.
The British number one, who has now dropped to seventh in the world, overcame the Spanish right-hander 3-6 6-1 6-2 on the new hard court in Acapulco.
World number 34 Andujar won the first five games on his way to clinching the first set and then broke Murray at the start of the second.
However, Murray responded by rattling off six games in a row and maintained his form in the decider to set up the second-round clash with Portugal’s Sousa.
Related: Andy Murray makes Mexican Open bow instead of Dubai Duty Free Championship.
“I had a difficult start,” said the Scot. “It was 10 minutes in the match and I was down 5-0, but I started to play more aggressively to get the win and hopefully I can have a good week here.
“The first set was extremely challenging. He was dictating the points, but later on he was getting tired and I put pressure on him.”
Murray made the choice to play in Latin America for the first time in his career because of the tournament’s switch from clay to hard courts and believes the Acapulco event will give him the chance to boost his ranking.
Murray is seeded second behind three-time champion David Ferrer in Mexico while Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro are all chasing the same number of ranking points at the Dubai Open.
He next faces world number 44 Sousa, whom he beat in straight sets at the Australian Open in 2013, and the Dunblane man is 1.30 to win in straight sets (-1.5) in the Handicap betting.
Murray said: “He was new on the tour then and he has improved. He’s playing good tennis. He’s good on clay and on hard courts.
“He plays similar to Pablo. Hopefully I can play aggressively from the start.”
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