Andy Murray avoided the fate of fellow world number one Angelique Kerber by coming through his first-round match at the French Open in four sets.
The Briton, 30, beat Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov 6-4 4-6 6-2 6-0.
Defeat for Murray would have seen both top seeds exit a Grand Slam in round one for the first time in the open era.
Fellow Briton Johanna Konta earlier lost to world number 109 Hsieh Su-Wei, while Kyle Edmund impressed in beating Portugal’s Gastao Elias 6-3 6-2 7-5.
Murray goes on to face Slovakia’s Martin Klizan, the world number 50, while Edmund will play either 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France or Argentina’s Renzo Olivo.
Olivo was just a game away from knocking the Frenchman out of his home tournament when the match was stopped for bad light with the world number 91 leading 7-5 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 5-4.
“It was a decent start, considering how I played in the build-up,” said Murray.
Fellow Briton Aljaz Bedene reached the second round on Monday and plays against Czech Jiri Vesely on Wednesday.
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