Andy Murray battled back from losing the second set to beat Australian qualifier John Millman 6-1 5-7 6-3 and reach the third round of ATP Brisbane.
The top seed and defending champion took more than two hours to overcome the world number 199 after having received a bye through to the second round.
After fighting back from a sluggish second set, Murray regained his poise in the third set to beat the 23-year-old Australian and secure his safe progression.
The world number three will next take on Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin, who defeated former number one Lleyton Hewitt.
Murray, who won the tournament last year, is continuing his warm-up for the first Grand Slam of the year in Melbourne, which gets under way on January 14.
Meanwhile, Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov beat Milos Raonic 6-3 6-4 to send the second seed packing at the second-round stage.
The world number 13 failed to win a single point on the first serve of his opponent as he was unable to put any pressure on the world number 48.
Dimitrov won just three points on the Canadian’s first serve, but won all 26 of his first-serve points en route to the straight-sets win. The Bulgarian will next take on seventh seed Jurgen Melzer of Austria.
“I just didn’t take my chances. Should have been up an early break in the first and the second sets,” said Hewitt. “I just tried scrapping around to hang in as long as I could, but it was just one of those days. Two matches has been an absolute bonus this week, but it would have been nice to have a few more.”
ATP Brisbane results
1-Andy Murray (Britain) beat John Millman (Australia) 6-1 5-7 6-3
Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) beat 2-Milos Raonic (Canada) 6-3 6-4
7-Jurgen Melzer (Austria) beat David Goffin (Belgium) 6-4 7-6(4)
Denis Istomin (Uzbekistan) beat Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) 7-5 7-5
ATP Chennai results
5-Benoit Paire (France) beat Dudi Sela (Israel) 6-1 6-0
Murray battles through
