Andy Murray has safely booked his place in the third round of the US Open courtesy of a straight-sets victory over Marcel Granollers.
The reigning Wimbledon and Olympic champion needed less than two-and-a-half hours to see off his Spanish opponent 6-4 6-1 6-4 to keep his hopes of a second consecutive Grand Slam alive.
Murray quickly took control of the contest by racing into a 3-0 lead in the opening set, but Granollers eventually got on the board and showed fighting spirit by saving a set point at 5-3 down.
That still left Murray serving for the set, but the world number 45 gave himself hope when he saved two more set points before finally taking advantage of his fourth break point of the game to bring it back on serve.
However, the British number one responded in kind straight away, eventually wrapping the opener up with his seventh set point and fourth of the game, breaking the Spaniard to take it 6-4.
The second set was a lot more straightforward for Murray, who arguably went into the tournament at Flushing Meadows as favourite, as he cruised to a 6-1 victory in little over half an hour.
Neither player gave much away on their serve in the final set, but Murray found the crucial breakthrough in the penultimate game before serving out the win with his second match point to set up a third-round meeting with either Gilles Simon or Paolo Lorenzi.
