Murray starts season with easy win at Hopman Cup

REUTERS – World number two Andy Murray was satisfied with the start to his season after romping past France’s Kenny de Schepper 6-2 6-2 at the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia on Monday.

Murray, who led Britain to their first Davis Cup triumph in 79 years just over a month ago, took under an hour to seal victory at the mixed team event.

“I played well,” he told reporters. “Everything was working pretty good. I was able to finish a lot of the points up at the net.

“It’s quite a quick surface here so if you can get the first strike in in the rallies it’s quite easy to sort of stay on top of the point.

“I enjoy it here and that’s why I keep coming back. I’ll be back next year as well.”

Murray, who is using the event to tune up for this month’s Australian Open, will next meet Australian number one Nick Kyrgios on Wednesday.

(Writing by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; editing by Ed Osmond)