Andy Murray grinds into second round at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

Andy Murray registered his 699th career win at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Monday night - and in true Murray fashion, it was far from straightforward.

The former world No 1, returning to Dubai for the first time since winning the title in 2017, managed to "tough it out" against Australian qualifier Christopher O'Connell, taking the victory 6-7, 6-3, 7-5 in eight minutes shy of three hours. It was far from vintage Murray but a marked improvement from last week's effort in Doha, where he won just a single game against Roberto Bautista Agut in one of the heaviest defeats in his career.

"I enjoyed the result, what went on in the middle was not so easy," Murray, 34, said in his on-court interview. "I was very frustrated at the start of the match, I couldn't quite find my game. He was dictating a lot of the rallies but I managed to serve a bit better as the match went on, which helped me a lot. I just managed to tough it out in the end."

Indeed, Murray cut a frustrated figure for much of the first set as the Briton squandered three break points in the sixth game before getting broken himself in ninth. He managed to respond immediately with a break of his own when O'Connell served for the set but it was the Australian who edged a close tiebreak to claim the opener.

Murray quickly asserted control in the second set, though, breaking in the first game and again in ninth to level the match. After most of the deciding set had stayed on serve, Murray needed to fend off four break points at 4-4 to prevent O'Connell serving for the match. Two solid service holds followed, before the Australian wilted in the 12th game and Murray closed out a battling victory for his sixth straight win in Dubai.

Since his title triumph