Andy Murray successfully tamed his dangerous first-round opponent Nick Kyrgios as the British number one sealed a controlled four-set victory at the US Open on Tuesday.
Kyrgios produced a typically explosive display under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium but Murray's touch and precision were a class above as the Briton hit 18 aces and saved 11 of 14 break points en route to a 7-5 6-3 4-6 6-1 victory.
Murray has now won all four of his meetings against Kyrgios, including three at Grand Slams this year, and the Scot will now face France's Adrian Mannarino in round two.
The match was touted the highlight of the first round, with Kyrgios having dominated the headlines in recent weeks for an on court insult directed at Stan Wawrinka
World No 3. Murray showed his class with strategic play throughout the opening two sets, despite glimmers from the turbulent Kyrgios.
Kyrgios finally found a break at the start of the third set but, just as he had in the first set, immediately gave it back as Murray broke to love for 2-1.
t seemed inevitable Murray would make his experience count again but as Kyrgios knuckled down, the world number three wavered and a double fault helped his opponent clinch the third set.
With the momentum in his favour, Kyrgios took a toilet break, returned to the court without his sleeves and then received an audible obscenity warning from umpire Carlos Ramos as Murray broke in the very first game.
It was one-way traffic thereafter as a Kyrgios double fault handed Murray a double break for 5-1 before a looping forehand out confirmed the Scot's victory in two hours and 43 minutes.
After the match Murray said: "I served pretty well for the most part, and got a lot of free points on my serve and got quite a lot of returns back in play and tried to make it difficult for him.
"It was tough. I had to do a lot of defending tonight, a lot of running tonight in very hot and humid conditions.
"He's unpredictable and can play all of the shots.
"He serves particularly well and he's a fantastic athlete.
"He's a big guy and covers the court extremely well. It's tough to get it out of his strike zone.
"It was a very tricky match. I fought hard, mixed it up and managed to get through."
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