The 22-year-old Briton — who has been out of action for the past six weeks — is preparing for the season ending ATP World Tour Finals in London in a campaign which has seen him reach a best ever world ranking of second before slipping back two places.

The only concern for Murray — who will also play the Paris Masters next week — is a nagging wrist injury. Murray cruised into a 4-0 lead in the first set of his match against the Spaniard before losing concentration and the next three games — but he never looked back after that taking eight of the next nine matches to close out an easy win.

He will play Argentinian Leonardo Mayer in the second round.

There were no upsets on the second day of action with two of the players still chasing down the two available remaining spots for the World Tour Finals, French duo Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils winning their respective matches in straight sets.