Indian Wells: Andy Murray breeze past David Goffin in opener

Andy Murray earned his 31st match victory during the Indian Wells in his 16th appearance, having debuted in 2006 with a strong opening performance on Wednesday.

The 36-year-old British Andy Murray was sharp from the start, with two straight sets wins of 6-3, 6-2 against fellow veteran David Goffin. Meanwhile, it extended his perfect Lexus ATP Head2Head record against the Belgian qualifier to 8-0.

After starting the 2024 season 0-4, Murray has now won each of his past three first-round matches. Strong serving keyed his latest victory, with the former World No.1 won 85 percent (23/27) of his first-serve points and not facing a break point in the match, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

“That’s the best I’ve served here,” Murray said post-match. “I’ve always struggled serving certainly the last 10 years or so when I’ve been here for whatever reason. Today felt much better.”

He will bid to keep his 2024 campaign on track when he meets fifth seed Andrey Rublev in the second round.

Elsewhere, Brandon Nakashima made his mark in his first tour-level match since last October at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

The 22-year-old American scored a a 6-3, 7-6(3) result against countryman Christopher Eubanks without facing a break point.

Nakashima who sits at No. 93 in the PIF ATP Rankings after falling out of the Top 100 last season, improved to 1-1 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head with Eubanks. The two are among a tournament-high 15 Americans in the 96-player men’s singles main draw, a contingent led by 2022 champion Taylor Fritz.

Next up for Nakashima is a second-round meeting with 32nd seed Jiri Lehecka.

Other early Wednesday winners in Indian Wells include Thanasi Kokkinakis, who beat Marcos Giron 6-3, 7-5, and Christopher O’Connell, who downed Jack Draper 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.