Murray relaxed after 'up and down' win

It was a rather bumpier ride than Andy Murray might have hoped for as he booked his place in the second round of the US Open.

In the end the Scot was a comfortable 6-2 6-4 6-1 winner over Russia's Alex Bogomolov, but not before he had lost his opening two service games and fought back from a break down in the second set. It took two hours and 15 minutes for the British tennis star to wrap up victory on a hot and humid day on Arthur Ashe Stadium and he struggled a little with cramp in the final stages.

Murray said: "First round matches are tricky. The conditions were hard for both of us. That's probably why it was quite an up-and-down match."

He added: "Sometimes I've played great at the start of tournaments and not done well, sometimes I've played badly and got better. In Australia this year I struggled in my first-round match with my game a bit. Physically I didn't feel great. Then I went on to have a good tournament."

It was perhaps not the performance that had been expected of the Olympic champion, but Murray felt he had done pretty well in the circumstances.

He said: "I won in three sets. I didn't serve very well. I only lost seven games in three sets, so I must have done something well today.

"I think Bogomolov was seeded here last year. He made the third round. He plays his best tennis on the hard courts. He's a tough player.

"I played fairly well from the back of the court. I just would have liked to have served a bit better because I wasn't getting many free points on my serve. Because of that, there were a lot more rallies.

"When he's in a rhythm, he's tough to break down. It was very, very hot and tough conditions today. You want to try to win the matches as quickly as possible."

Murray will now face Ivan Dodig in the second round on Thursday after the Croatian brushed aside Japan's Hiroki Moriya 6-0 6-1 6-2.