Good start for Murray

Andy Murray edged Juan Martin del Potro 6-3 3-6 6-2 in the opening match of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

The British number one is competing at the prestigious eight-man event for the second time after reaching the semi-finals on his debut in Shanghai last year and dug deep to get his Group A campaign off to the perfect start.

Del Potro, who was won only two matches since his New York triumph in September, put in a very inconsistent display, with some scorching winners punctuated by simple errors.

The first set was a strange affair, Murray saving two break points in the opening game before going on to take a 5-0 lead.

Del Potro took a medical time-out after the third game to receive treatment to his face, but he was certainly struggling to find his range and some basic errors left the Scot barely able to believe his luck.

It was almost inevitable Del Potro's malaise would not last and, having saved two set points to avoid a whitewash, he retrieved one of the breaks before Murray finally clinched the opener at the eighth time of asking.

The Scot had won four of their previous five matches but the clashes have often been close and he would have expected the Argentinian to come out firing in the second set.

And that is exactly what transpired, a sloppy Murray service game allowing Del Potro to break to love then open up a 3-0 lead.

Murray broke back but soon dropped his serve again and Del Potro went on to level the match.

The home favourite was certainly not at his best and seemed to be struggling for rhythm, understandably so given the pattern of the match.

He recovered from 15-30 to hold serve in the opening game of the decider and finally got the crowd really behind him when he capitalised on a second break point to move into a 2-0 lead.

Del Potro rallied in the fourth game and then put his opponent under pressure with some more huge groundstrokes but Murray served well and sealed victory with a backhand winner after Del Potro had put himself in trouble with successive double faults.

Murray said: "It was always going to be tough. I played well today, started really good, he came back into it but I stayed tough in the third set."

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Both these players were competing at the prestigious end-of-season tournament for the second time in their careers, with Murray having reached the semi-finals on his debut last year while Del Potro failed to make it past the group stage.

The Scot had won four of their previous five matches but the clashes have often been close and he would have expected the Argentinian to come out firing in the second set.

And that is exactly what transpired, a sloppy Murray service game allowing Del Potro to break to love then open up a 3-0 lead.

The world number four got on the board one game later, although not before a thumping forehand from his opponent had drawn an audible gasp from the crowd.

Volleying had let Del Potro down in the first set, though, and a simple backhand dumped into the top of the net proved costly again as Murray broke back to reduce the deficit to 3-2.

Perhaps because of the topsy-turvy nature of the contest, the crowd were strangely subdued, but a lengthy rally at the end of the sixth game increased the noise levels - Del Potro finally drawing the error on the Murray backhand to move ahead again.

The 22-year-old was beginning to look a little weary of the barrage of groundstrokes being fired at him. A superb crosscourt pass took him to deuce on Del Potro's serve but this time the Argentinian held firm.

Murray battled hard to save the first set point but on the second Del Potro thumped a forehand onto the line to take it 6-3 and level proceedings.

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Murray was certainly not at his best and seemed to be struggling for rhythm, understandably so given the pattern of the match.

He recovered from 15-30 to hold serve in the opening game of the decider and finally got the crowd really behind him when he capitalised on a second break point to move into a 2-0 lead.

A roar showed what that meant to the Scot and, with Del Potro seemingly having returned to the inconsistency of the opening set, Murray easily cemented his advantage.

The Argentinian rallied in the fourth game and then put his opponent under pressure with some more huge groundstrokes but Murray's serve proved a useful weapon as he moved to the brink of victory.

Del Potro then put himself in serious trouble with successive double faults, giving Murray two match points.

He saved one but the world number four powered a backhand winner on the second to seal a 6-3 3-6 6-2 victory.