Murray sees off Lopez

Valencia - Andy Murray began his Valencia Open defence with a 6-3, 7-6 (1) win over Spain's Feliciano Lopez on Tuesday.

The top-seeded Briton broke Lopez in the fourth game on his way to taking the first set. He then had to rally from a 4-1 deficit in the second after the Spaniard broke in the fourth game when Murray netted.

But Murray took advantage of one of Lopez's many unforced errors to break back and take it to the tiebreaker, where Lopez simply fell apart.

Earlier, two-time Valencia winner Nicolas Almagro made an early exit after losing to fellow Spain's Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina beat Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in another first-round match.

Results (seedings in parentheses):

First Round

Juan Ignacio Chela, Argentina, def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
Daniel Gimeno-Traver, Spain, def. Nicolas Almagro, Spain, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Andy Murray (1), Britain, def. Feliciano Lopez, Spain, 6-3, 7-6 (1).