Madrid: British No. 1 Andy Murray booked his place in the second round of the Madrid Masters on Monday with a comfortable 6-2, 6-4 win over Spanish qualifier Ivan Navarro Pastor.

The 19-year-old Scot, who has stumbled out at the first hurdle in 10 tournaments this year, made a confident start on his debut appearance in the two million euro ($2.50 million) hardcourt event.

He broke serve in the fourth and eighth games, taking the first set with a delicate lob. He was pushed harder in the second but stepped up a gear at 4-4 and won the match with a classy cross-court shot.

Murray, who reached the semi-finals of the Toronto Masters in August, will now meet last year’s losing finalist Ivan Ljubicic in the second round.

The Croat, seeded three in Madrid, won his third title of the season with a straight sets victory over Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez at the Vienna Open at the weekend.

“The best part of his (Ljubicic’s) game is obviously his serve. He won in Vienna having not lost a serve,” Murray said after the match. “My return is the best part of my game. It should be an interesting match up. If I play well I’ve got a chance but he’s playing really good tennis.”

Mardy Fish of the US had to battle from a set down to see off Belgium’s Xavier Malisse 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 and earn himself a second round match against champion Rafael Nadal.

The 20-year-old Spaniard has struggled to find his rhythm on hard courts in recent weeks, losing in straight sets to Sweden’s Joachim Johansson in the second round in Stockholm earlier this month. (Reuters)