 Murray is the top seed in Newport |
British number one Andy Murray fought back from the verge of defeat to beat Brazil's Ricardo Mello at the Hall of Fame Championships in Newport. The 19-year-old Scot, who is top seed, saved five match points before winning 6-1 1-6 7-6 (7-5).
He will now play Sam Querrey in round two after the American defeated Thailand's Danai Udomchoke 6-4 6-3.
Fellow Brit Alex Bogdanovic will play George Bastl in round two after beating US qualifier Jesse Levine 6-4 7-5.
Murray looked to be cruising to an easy passage to round two after winning the first set 6-1.
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But the 25-year-old Mello, ranked 139th in the world, won the second set 6-1 and then moved 5-2 up in the decider.
Mello's five match points came in the 12th game of the final set, but Murray broke to level at 6-6.
Even then, it was not straightforward as Mello recovered from 3-0 down to lead 5-3 before Murray reeled off four straight points to win the match.
"I should've played more carefully in the beginning of the second set, but I won the first set so easily, in like 20 minutes," said Murray.
"He came up with some drop volleys that I really wasn't expecting from a Brazilian."
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