Italian Open: Djokovic, Murray bag opening wins

The Serb beats Almagro 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, the Brit beats Chardy 6-4, 6-3

ROME: Holder Novak Djokovic needed a late break in the final set to beat Nicolas Almagro 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3 in an opening match at the Italian Open on Tuesday.

The Serb world number one took his record on the clay of the capital to a 30-5 career record here, with titles in 2008, 2011 and a year ago over Rafael Nadal.

Djokovic broke for 5-3 against his Spanish opponent and served out the victory, finishing with 11 aces and just one break of serve.

It was the first competitive outing for Djokovic since winning Monte Carlo almost a month ago. The Serb is now riding an 18-match win streak.

"I experienced some ups and downs but the confidence I have from many matches won this year helped me," said Djokovic.

"I was expecting him to bounce back and start playing better and that's what he did.

"He deserved to win the second set even if I could have maybe prevailed in the tie break. But at the end of the day it's a win. After three weeks with no official match, in the important moments I did feel a little bit uncomfortable."

Murray wins Rome opener to stay unbeaten on clay

Unbeaten Andy Murray kept his clay-court purple patch alive on Wednesday, defeating Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-3 to reach the third round of the Italian Open.

Murray now owns a dominating 10-0 start on the dirt as he competes at the Foro Italico after making a late decision to see how his body had held up after his stunning Madrid Open win on Sunday.

The third-seeded Scot is bidding for a potential pre-Roland Garros trophy hat-trick after winning the first clay honour of his career in Munich and following up with a huge title success in Madrid at the expense of Spain's king of clay Rafael Nadal.

The soon-to-be 28-year-old is playing Rome for the tenth straight edition. now standing a level 9-9 over his career at the venue.

He reached the quarter-finals in 2014, losing to Nadal in three sets.
Murray beat Chardy in 84 minutes with six aces and three breaks of the Frenchman's serve, leading 6-1 in the series. The seed's victory was his 31st of the season against five defeats.

American John Isner continued to play outside of his comfort zone, the 16th seed sending over 11 aces in a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 defeat of Argentine Leonardo Mayer.

Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez accounted for Ukrainian qualifier Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4, 6-3.

In the women's draw, second seed Simona Halep made up for last week's surprise opening exit in Madrid, defeating American Alison Riske 6-3, 6-0 for a place in the third round.