Andy Murray came through his first-round encounter with Nick Kyrgios at the US Open in New York in four sets and the 2012 champion admitted he was relieved to get past a ‘tricky’ opponent.

The clash between Murray and the unpredictable Aussie had been billed as the stand-out first round clash and they played to an enthralled crowd under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens.

It took the Scot two hours and 43 minutes to wrap up a 7-5 6-3 4-6 6-1 victory and afterwards Murray admitted he was relieved negotiate a potentially dangerous opponent.

“He’s unpredictable,” said Murray. “He can play all of the shots, he serves extremely well, he’s a fantastic athlete, a big guy, covers the court extremely well. It’s tough to get the ball out of his strike zone.

“It was a very tricky match and I just fought hard, mixed it up and managed to get through.”

Having been on court for the best of three hours, Murray says he must now manage his recovery carefully at the start of what he hopes will be a two-week stint in New York.

“It was tough and I had to do a lot of running in very humid conditions,” he added. “I’m getting old now – 28 years old. I need to get in the ice bath and cool off a bit.”

Two-time Grand Slam winner Murray goes on to face Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in round two on Thursday.

Murray is 5.00 to win his second US Open title this year with world number one Novak Djokovic 2.00 and Roger Federer 4.33.