Top seed Andy Murray began his search for a first title on the ATP tour on clay today at the Munich Open event. His second round match against local German favourite Mischa Zverev proved comfortable enough. Britain's number one Tennis player required just 75 minutes to clinch the 6-2 6-2 success. With new (assistant) coach Jonas Bjorkman looking on, it represented a pleasing start to their collaboration.
After a first round bye in the event, the proud Scot would have been looking for a commanding victory to set his tournament off on the right footing.
The win over the unseeded Zverev ticked most of the boxes on that front. He will be keen for his clay court preparations to show progress ahead of the not too distant French Open Grand Slam event.
It was Murray's first competitive match after his Scottish wedding to long-time partner Kim Sears earlier in the month. He took time off to fit the major event in his life into his busy schedule, before making some last minute preparations for Munich in Barcelona. That allowed him to have his first sessions with Bjorkman. The Swede is to initially assist Murray along with head coach Amelie Mauresmo, who is then due to take a maternity break after Wimbledon.
Next up in Germany for the British player will be the Czech Lukas Rosol, seeded 9 for the tournament.
He also came through the second round in straight sets, beating the Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky 7-5 6-2.
With in-form players of the ilk of Gael Monfils and Roberto Bautista-Agut all entered, it could prove a tricky competition for Murray to win. One of the clay court dangermen, Fabio Fognini can be discounted though, as he was knocked out today by Austria's Dominic Thiem.
Clay is not Murray's favourite surface by his own admission. He prefers the hard courts or the grass of Wimbledon. It will be interesting to see how he performs this week and whether the Bjorkman partnership brings instant success or not.
