Andy Murray was forced to come from a set down to see off the challenge of Juan Monaco at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.
British number one keeps his cool in rising temperatures in Miami
Andy Murray was forced to come from a set down to see off the challenge of Juan Monaco at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.
The world number four was made to sweat in high humidity before eventually booking his place in the third round with a 4-6 6-4 6-2 victory.
Monaco, who turns 25 on Sunday, produced an inspired display to go ahead in the first meeting of the pair on the ATP Tour.
In rising temperatures, the Brit looked in danger of suffering a shock early exit from the tournament when he was second best throughout the opening set.
Back-to-back breaks
Monaco managed back-to-back breaks to surge 4-1 ahead and despite a setback in the sixth game, the Argentinean still served out for a 1-0 lead.
Faced with the possiblity of suffering back-to-back defeats following his loss in the final at Indian Wells against Rafael Nadal, the Scot stepped up his play.
He clawed his way back onto level terms by taking a tight second set, a break in the fourth game setting up a decider that proved one-way traffic.
Now finding his feet, Murray - who owns an apartment in Miami, which he uses as his training base in the winter, took the opening game on Monaco's serve.
Although his opponent replied straight back, the 21-year-old recorded a third successive break to forge himself into a lead that he would not surrender again.
Victory finally came after two hours and 15 minutes on court, Murray now relieved to get two days off before he returns to action against Nicolas Massu.
Served well
"I served really well, when I was behind in games I got a lot of cheap points on my serve," he told
Sky Sports afterwards.
"We had a lot of long rallies early on and the conditions here compared with last week are completely different.
"I had to take a couple of days off after Indian Wells to try to get my body rested and recovered. Last week was the first time I'd played since my virus and I don't want it to come back. I've got a chance to do well, if I play well.
"Today Juan played excellently and I wasn't at my best right at the start of my next match."
In other results on Saturday, Fernando Verdasco, seeded eighth, defeated German qualifier Benjamin Becker 6-3 6-4 and he will next face fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, who fired down 15 aces to knock out American Sam Querry.
