Andy Murray eased into the second round of the Hamburg Masters with a comfortable 6-4, 6-1 victory over Russia's Dmitry Tursunov.

Hamburg holds bad memories for Murray, who suffered a serious wrist injury at last year's event, which eventually forced him to miss the French Open and Wimbledon. However, it was a different story this time around, as the Scot, who has only won three times on clay this season, produced an impressive display against his unpredictable opponent.

After establishing a 4-2 lead in the first set, and a lucky net cord helped the Russian save a break point as Murray, who celebrates his 21st birthday on Thursday, missed the chance to make it 5-2. Tursunov claimed a rare victory in an incredible rally of angles and drop shots in the next game but again he could not find the breakthrough.

Murray seemed certain to clinch the set with a second break but a brilliant reflex volley from the world No 31 forced him to serve it out. That proved to be no problem, however, as Murray won the game to love to take the set 6-4.

Both men raced through their first service games in the second set and it was Murray who again gained the early advantage when Tursunov allowed a 40-0 lead to slip away with some sloppy errors to put the Scot 2-1 up. The pair had met three times previously, most recently in St Petersburg last season, with Murray the victor on each occasion. And the 20-year-old looked on course to maintain his perfect record four with Tursunov struggling to find any answers to Murray's retrieving skills.

Another lob helped him to a double break but a late rally from Tursunov saw him force a rare break point, only for Murray to again shut the door. And when Tursunov lost a second game from 40-0 up, sending a smash long, the match was all over.

The British number one will face France's Gilles Simon in the second round after he beat Xavier Malisse 6-4, 7-5, with the winner likely to meet second seed Rafael Nadal. Murray climbed four places to No14 in the world rankings today, despite a second-round exit in Rome last week, and a good performance in Hamburg will see him close in on a return to the top 10.