World number two Andy Murray made his return to the China Open with a straight-sets win over unseeded Italian Andreas Seppi 6-2, 7-5.
Seppi was too inconsistent in the first set to trouble Murray at all as the Brit eased his way to a double break lead and eventually the first set. The first and only real signs of danger for Murray showed in the opening game of the second set as Seppi improved his level and broke the Murray serve. Murray got the break back and stayed patient as Seppi battled through his following holds of serve. The crucial break came as Seppi was serving to stay in the match for the second time and Murray secured his place in the second round.
Flying start
A string of errors early on from Seppi meant that Murray got underway on serve with a simple hold. Another easy hold of serve followed for Seppi. At 2-1, Murray's huge returning and a beautifully constructed point finished at the net left Seppi with three break points to fend off. The Italian managed to dig himself of the 0-40 hole with big hitting and the help of a couple of errors from Murray.
More danger came for Seppi in his next service game, where Murray upped the pressure on return and the Brit again earned himself three break points. Seppi wasn't able to repeat the comeback of his previous service game as he gifted Murray the first break of the match with a forehand error into the net.
Murray wasn't letting his opponent have any kind of look in on his serve and he sealed another hold of serve with an ace to lead 5-2. After staying with Murray well in the early stages of the match, Seppi completely lost his way and was broken again while serving to stay in the set with his 13th unforced error and the number one seed eased his way to a one set lead, 6-2.
Competitive end
Seppi improved his groundstrokes in the opening game of the second set on the Murray serve and bullied his way to a surprise break of the number one seed's serve. A strong hold of serve followed as the improvement signs continued to show for the Italian.
Murray managed to halt the momentum slightly and got his first game on the board with a hold similar to the easy holds of the first set. Seppi wasn't able to continue his high quality into the next service game a hard fought battle finally went the way of Murray to bring the pair back on serve on the fifth break point. Murray got the match back on track with a quick hold to love, which Seppi answered with a love hold of his own to level the set at 3-3.
Both players were starting to hit the ball extremely well in the latter stages of the second set. A grueling game full of punishing groundstrokes from both players went the way of Seppi but it was Murray who impressed the crowd with a behind the back lob that landed perfectly on the baseline to keep him in a rally. Murray hammered down three aces as he eased to a 5-4 lead that left Seppi serving to stay in the match.
Seppi soaked up the pressure and held with ease with some big hitting from the back of the court. Murray yet again got a simple hold of serve to guarantee himself at least a tiebreak as Seppi served to stay in the match again.
Murray upped the pressure following a Seppi double fault with a scorching forehand winner to go two points away from the match. A bad overhead into the net from Seppi and a sixth double fault gifted Murray the crucial break that finished off the match 6-2, 7-5.