Andy Murray's return to form continued as he progressed to the second round of the Valencia Open with a 6-3 6-3 win over Austria's Jurgen Melzer.
Top seed David Ferrer was also victorious on Wednesday, 6-3 7-5 over Italy's Andreas Seppi, but second seeded Czech Thomas Berdych crashed out 6-3 6-2 against Spaniard Pablo Andujar.
The British No.1 claimed his second title of the season in Vienna last week and is hoping to boost his chances of reaching the World Tour Finals in London next month with another strong showing in Spain.
And despite looking far from sure on his own serve, the two-time grand slam champion had too much for Melzer to extend his head-to-head record over the world No.121 to 7-0.
After an early exchange of breaks, Murray took control of the first set as he broke Melzer's serve twice more to close it out 6-3.
A similar pattern ensued in the second set with both players throwing their racquets in frustration as there were four breaks of serve in the opening seven games.
However, Murray made the decisive break to move ahead 5-3 and served it out despite having to save two break points.
Next up for the Scot is a meeting with Italian Fabio Fognini in round two on Thursday.
Ferrer was also far from his best, but battled past Seppi to set up an all-Spanish last 16 tie with Fernando Verdasco.
Indeed the three-time champion in Valencia had trailed 5-2 in the second set before reeling off five straight games to finish off the Italian.
Both Murray and Ferrer's Tour Finals chances were also boosted by defeat for Berdych earlier in the day to local favourite Pablo Andujar 6-3, 6-3.
"I think it was a very special match for me, here in Valencia, with my friends and family cheering for me," said Andujar.
The world No.46 will play Serbia's Dusan Lajovic in the second round.
Last year's champion Mikhail Youzhny of Russia also suffered a earlier exit as he was beaten by Brazilian qualifier Thomaz Bellucci 7-5, 6-3.
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