Murray Into Second Round In Paris

Andy Murray progressed past Facundo Arguello in the French Open first round in straight sets.

The British No 1 was rarely allowed to demonstrate his full array of abilities by a tough and willing challenger, but Arguello never threated the scoreboards deep into any of the three sets.

He eventually broke his foe's resistance after an hour and 44 minutes, winning 6-3 6-3 6-1 to register an 11th straight win on clay.

After a pair of clay court titles this season in Munich and Madrid, Murray continued his good form on the red surface by outlasting his Argentinian opponent who couldn't keep pace with the Scot's famed energy levels as the match wore on.

The 22-year-old from South America immediately grabbed Murray's attention, forcing break point in a surprising eight-minute opening game before eventually succumbing - the world No 3 then broke serve at the first attempt.

After holding to go three games ahead, it looked ominously straightforward for Murray but Arguello launched a brave comeback that had the Paris crowd gratefully applauding him.

A nervy point was won by the world No 137 to get himself on the scoreboard, before he took advantage of wayward Murray forehands to shockingly break his serve. Another hold made it three apiece after six games.

An arduous first set changed when Murray broke for a second time, largely after two important unforced errors from the other side of the court, before he served out the set.

Arguello responded by not allowing Murray a single point in his first service game of the second set before the crowd was treated to a thrilling rally.

The highlight of the match saw Arguello brilliantly return a seemingly lost cause only for Murray to volley it past him anyway. A second great piece of opportunism from the Scot gave him his first break of the second set for 3-2.

He powered through a fourth game to give himself breathing space with a two-game lead before again breaking serve and taking set point.

Arguello - yet to win a game in three Grand Slam appearances - understandably began to wane as the third set progressed. His forehands started to lack vigour and he failed with more frequency to convincingly return serves.

Murray broke at the first time of asking, then again to go 5-1 ahead as his opponent's prior hard work critically slowed down. He served out with three match points to go.