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INDIAN WELLS, California: Andy Murray, trying to improve on a runner-up finish last year, booked his third-round berth at the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Italian Andreas Seppi.
The fourth-seeded Briton needed an hour and 26 minutes to get past 46th-ranked Seppi, who has now lost three of their four meetings.
"I obviously did well here last year, would love to win it this time," Murray told the crowd at the sun-splashed stadium court at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Last year Murray was roundly beaten in the final by Rafael Nadal, but he followed up his run to the championship match with two North American Masters 1000 victories - at Miami and Montreal.
His match was part of a star-studded lineup on the main court, where world number one Roger Federer was due to open his campaign with a second-round match against Romanian Victor Hanescu.
Russian Maria Sharapova was to take on Australian Open semi-finalist Zheng Jie of China in a women's third-round clash.
Sharapova, who won the WTA title in Memphis last month, is the 10th seed in the WTA event that runs alongside the ATP Masters 1000.
The Russian will be hoping for a better outing against Zheng than she had in her second-round match against compatriot Vera Dushevina, when she scraped through in three sets.
Seventh-seeded American Andy Roddick was also slated for action, taking on Taiwanese qualifier Lu Yen-Hsun, while women's second seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark faced Russian Maria Kirilenko.
In early matches, ninth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France beat Australian Marinko Matosevic 6-1, 6-3, and Cyprus's Marcos Baghdatis downed Arnaud Clement 7-6 (9/7), 6-1.
Baghdatis will be next in line for Federer if the Swiss powerhouse gets past Hanescu. - AFP/de
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