JOIN USMurray, Nadal shine
Andy Murray returned from over a month out with an elbow injury to launch his clay-court season with a gruelling 7-5, 7-5 defeat of Gilles Muller at the Monte Carlo Masters on Wednesday.
The world number one was joined in the third round by nine-time tournament champion Rafael Nadal, who held off British surprise-package Kyle Edmund 6-0, 5-7, 6-3 in the Spaniard's 400th career match on clay.
The Scot Murray waited until late in both sets to make his move, finally putting Muller away in just under two hours as he builds up to the French Open in May-June.
But the 29-year-old was poor on his serve with eight double faults while breaking Luxembourg's Muller four times.
"I definitely played better as the match went on, obviously first service game was not ideal," Murray said. "But when you are coming back from not really serving for a few weeks, it's I think normal."
Murray was kept on the back foot in the opening set as he lost the first game and only caught up late.
In the second he was also far from his fluent best, before grinding out victory.
It was the first time back on the ATP since his elbow problem.
The three-time Monte Carlo semi-finalist Murray, who has had a sticky start to 2017 with form and injury, now stands 13-3 on the season and has one title from Dubai in his pocket.
Victory for Nadal came in his 400th match on clay, his record on the surface an outstanding 366-34.
The Spaniard swept the first set 6-0 against 45th-ranked Edmund, but found himself fighting for survival in the third set.
The fourth seed finally squeezed home after two and a quarter hours.
Murray and Nadal were joined in round three by Swiss third seed Stan Wawrinka, who saw off Czech Jiri Vesely 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
Three-time Grand Slam winner Wawrinka won Monte Carlo three years ago over compatriot and friend Roger Federer.
Czech ninth seed Tomas Berdych put an end to the run of 39-year-old Tommy Haas 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.
In the doubles, India’s Rohan Bopanna and Pablo Cuevas of Argentina recorded their first win together at the Masters level when they downed Marcin Matkowski and Alexander Peya in the opening round.
The unseeded pair fought past the rivals 6-3, 6-7 (7), 10-2 in an hour and 27 minutes.
Djokovic struggles
Meanwhile on Tuesday, Novak Djokovic's clay season got off to a sluggish start as the world number two struggled past Gilles Simon 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
The Serb, who has suffered a disjointed 2017 with poor form and injury, spent around two and a half hours toiling to get through. He was broken at 4-4 in the final set but then reeled off three straight games to snatch victory.