Murray was the winner of last week's Montreal Masters

Andy Murray began the defence of his Cincinnati Masters title with an impressive 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 win over Spain's Nicolas Almagro.

The world number two was made to work hard in the opening set but came through strongly in the tie-break.

But Murray, 22, looked in more control in the second set and will now face Radek Stepanek, who beat Marat Safin.

World number one Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic also advanced but Andy Roddick lost to Sam Querrey.

Murray, who won the Montreal Masters on Sunday, made a strong start by taking his first three service games to love.

But Almagro, 23, combined ferocious drives with subtlety, forcing Murray to serve to stay in the opening set.

The Scot saved a set point as three unanswerable serves drew the match level at 6-6 and forced a tie-break.

Almagro put a shot just wide and netted to send Murray 3-0 up and the number three seed looked comfortable from then on.

He broke Almagro in the second game of the second set and a fine passing shot saw him take a 3-0 lead.

The match then continued on serve until game eight, when Murray engineered three match points and wrapped up victory when Almagro went long.

"He served great in the first set, he was up at 72-75% on the first serve which is a big serve," said Murray.

Stepanek tries to mix things up, he's a very different player to a lot of the guys on the tour - you've got to stay focused against him because he tries a few mind games Andy Murray

"The second serve is very solid as well so I struggled a bit, the conditions were quick. Once I hung in in the first set I felt a lot better on the second."

Looking ahead to his meeting with Stepanek, Murray added: "He's a tricky player, he serves and volleys a lot and if I return well I've got a good chance.

"He tries to mix things up, he's a very different player to a lot of the guys on the tour.

"You've got to stay focused against him because he tries a few mind games. So I'll try and deal with that."

Federer clinched a 6-3 7-5 win over Argentine Jose Acasuso, while world number three Nadal continued his comeback from injury by edging out Italy's Andreas Seppi 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-3).

Though pleased with the effort and the absence of any pain in his knees, second seed Nadal immediately wrote off his title chances.

"It's difficult conditions for me," said the Spaniard. "My results here in this tournament say that. My best result was last year, semi-finals.

"It's always difficult for me to play a good tournament here."

606: DEBATE Solid performance from Andy - he didn't seem to be suffering from his three-set final last week DavidaBrent

Djokivic was similarly untroubled as he saw off Croat Ivan Ljubicic 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.

But seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat Federer in Montreal last week, suffered a a surprise 7-6 (14-12) 6-2 defeat by Australian Chris Guccione.

Roddick saw his preparations for the US Open suffer a blow as he crashed to a 7-6 (11-9) 7-6 (7-3) defeat by fellow American Sam Querrey in round two.

"To be honest I played well and I feel prepared for the Open," said world number five Roddick, the runner-up at Wimbledon. "That's what you want to get out of this stretch.

"I'm disappointed that I couldn't play better here in Cincinnati, which is a place that I enjoy playing. But as far as the Open goes, I'm not too worried about the setback."

Roddick had set points in the first set and was a break up in the second but could not push home the advantage.

World number 26 Querrey, who clinched his second ATP title at the LA Open earlier this month, will play Lleyton Hewitt in the third round.

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