Andy Murray kicked off the defence of his Cincinnati Masters title with a straightforward 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 win over Nicolas Almagro.
The newly crowned world number two was forced to work hard in the first set, with Almegro firing big shots and tricking Murray, but the Scot prevailed in the eventual tie-break.
Murray, 22, looked in control of the flow in the second set and will now face Radek Stepanek, who progressed by beating Marat Safin.
Other top seeds to progress in Cincinnati included World number one Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, however Andy Roddick lost out to Sam Querrey.
Watch free live streams of Andy Murray vs Radek Stepanek with Bet365.
