Murray progresses at China Open

(GETTY IMAGES)

Andy Murray made short work of his first-round match against French qualifier Paul-Henri Mathieu at the China Open in Beijing today.

The Scot, seeded second, broke four times on the way to a 6-2 6-3 success in one hour 14 minutes.

Murray only managed 49% of first serves but still only faced two break points, saving them both.

The 23-year-old dominated on his opponent's second serve to set up a second-round meeting with either Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev or Albert Montanes of Spain.

Murray told atpworldtour.com: "I thought I did well.

"I started the match well and didn't give him any opportunities really except in the second set, [at] 3-2 I think, was the only game where he had a couple of break points on my serve. It was a good first round."

The world number four has been struggling with illness in the build-up to the tournament and admitted the condition had taken its toll at various points of the match.

"I felt like I was pretty out of breath when there were some long rallies," he said. "I've been quite ill the last week.

"I started feeling better today, but I haven't practised that much on the court."