Bengaluru/Doha, February 16: A month after his defeat at the Australian Open, Andy Murray took his revenge on Taro Daniel in the first round of Qatar ExxonMobil Open with a 6-2, 6-2 win at the hard-courts of Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex.

Playing as a wild card at the ATP World Tour 250 Series event, the 34-year-old produced a strong first-round performance to brush aside Daniel 6-2, 6-2 on Tuesday (February 15) night to make up for his shock second-round loss at the Australian Open to the unheralded Japanese.

Doha has always been a happy hunting ground for Murray, having won the title in 2008 and 2009 while reaching a further two finals (2007 and 2017).

But he did not read too much into it.

"Obviously, the results from years ago aren't going to affect the results this week.

"But what it tells me is that the conditions here are good for my game, so if I can play to a good level, the courts are going to suit me here, and I'll make it difficult for everyone I play against," added Murray, who will next face second seed Roberto Bautista Agut in round two.

Murray will now seek to increase his 3-1 ATP Head-to-Head series lead over the world No. 16 Spaniard.

The Scot was however pleased with how he dealt with the threat of world No.110 Daniel this time around.

"He played very well in Australia, he had a very good run there and was too good for me there. I tried to be the one dictating from the first point, and I thought I did that well. It was one of the better matches I've played in recent months."

Bublik on song

Meanwhile, seventh seed Alexander Bublik hit 25 winners - including seven aces - in a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Slovakia's Jozef Kovalik.

He now faces Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, who defeated Jiri Vesely 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.

After defeats in his first four ATP Tour finals, Bublik claimed his maiden title in Montpellier two weeks ago, securing the trophy with the best win of his career against ATP world No. 3 Alexander Zverev.

The 24-year-old's hunt for more has now tahem him to Doha for a third consecutive year, where he will be hoping to make it past the second round for the first time.

Fucsovics through

In another match, Marton Fucsovics knocked eighth seed Lloyd Harris out for the second year in a row with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) victory.

Tata Open Maharashtra runner-up Emil Ruusuvuori continued his strong start to 2022 with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over David Goffin.

Ruusuvuori was making his debut in Doha and came good in the deciding set against the 48th-ranked Belgian to secure his eighth tour win of the year. The 22-year-old now faces sixth seed Karen Khachanov in the second round.

The Qatar ExxonMobil Open ends on Saturday (February 19). Canadian Denis Shapovalov is the top seed in Doha.

After an excellent start to 2022 that saw the 22-year-old helped guide his country to the ATP Cup title, Shapovalov suffered a shock first-round defeat to Jiri Lehecka in Rotterdam last week.

But the ATP world No. 12 will hope that was merely a blip as he tries to improve on his quarterfinal run in Doha in 2021.

Top-ranked pairing Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic have been given the top billing in the doubles field.

(With ATP/OPTA inputs)