Andy Murray booked his place in the Shanghai Masters second round on Monday, but the former world No 1 was forced to dig deep against Argentina's Juan Ignacio Londero in a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 win.
Murray initially struggled with the speed of the court at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena as Londero, who was more accustomed having come through qualifying, looked largely comfortable during the first set.
The 32-year-old Scot managed to hold serve after a marathon first game, but was soon under pressure from Londero as the world No 56 earned successive breaks in the fifth and seventh games.
Murray began to produce more solid and aggressive tennis in the second set and raced into a 4-1 lead, before earning a second break to close out the set and force the decider.
The three-time grand slam champion had all the momentum and looked set for a comfortable third set when he broke to love for a 3-1 lead. Londero responded with a break of his own in the next game, but could not level as Murray went ahead 4-2 on his way to sealing the match.
Murray's participation in Shanghai - where he is a three-time champion and won the title on his last visit to the Chinese city - comes as part of a busy Asian swing as he looks to continue his comeback from career-saving hip resurfacing surgery in January.
The double Olympic gold medallist won back-to-back ATP Tour-level singles matches for the first time since his return when he reached the China Open quarter-finals last week. He will be looking to at least emulate that when he faces Italian 10th seed Fabio Fognini for a place in the third round.
