Murray breezes into second round in Doha

WORLD No 1 Andy Murray coasted into the second round of the Qatar Open with a 6-0 7-6 (7/2) victory over Jeremy Chardy in Doha.

The 29-year-old Scot, knighted in the New Year’s Honours for his services to tennis and charity, wasted little time in taking control of the match against the Pau-born world No 69.

Murray breezed through the opening set in just 20 minutes.

However, Chardy produced a response to break Murray in the first game of the second and reach 3-3 but was eventually overpowered in the tie-break.

The British No 1 will next face Gerald Melzer.

The Austrian left-hander defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-7 (2/7) 6-3 6-2.

Elsewhere in Doha, there were firstrounds wins for No 5 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who saw off Russian Andrey Kuznetsov 6-1 4-6 6-2, and sixth seed Ivo Karlovic who beat Illya Marchenko 7-6 (7/5) 7-6 (7/0).

Philipp Kohlschreiber, seeded seven, won 6-2 7-6 (7/3) against Malek Jaziri.

Third seed Tomas Berdych came through in straight sets against Italian qualifier Alessandro Giannessi, as the Czech player completed a 7-6 (7/1) 6-2 victory.

RAFAEL Nadal’s mission to add to his 14 grand slam titles in 2017 received an early boost as the Spaniard saw off Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3 6-3 in the Brisbane International.

BRITISH No 3 Naomi Broady breezed into the second round of the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Danka Kovinic 7-6 (7/5) 6-3.

Naomi Broady had a tough match in Auckland against Danka Kovinic before making the third round.

Andy Murray is delighted to be into the second round of the Qatar Open after beating Jeremy Chardy.