The 46-time title winner beat fellow tour veteran Richard Gasquet 6-4 6-4 in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters 1000, and also secured a 6-2 6-0 victory over lucky loser Noah Rubin in his Winston-Salem opener.

He had been set to face Nick Kyrgios in a blockbuster first round at the ATP 250 event but the Aussie pulled out with injury shortly before the match, with world No 306 Rubin stepping in at the last minute, just half an hour after losing a two hour, three-set battle in the final round of qualifying.

Murray will be looking to win a few matches in a row at the US Open, where he made it to the main draw on his direct ranking following the withdrawal of fellow three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka.

The Brit impressed at his home Slam of Wimbledon last month, beating 24^th seed Nikoloz Basilashvili and Oscar Otte in four and five sets respectively, before losing to top ten player Denis Shapovalov, who went on to make the semi-finals.