Yuki Bhambri better player than his ranking: Andy Murray

Yuki Bhambri congratulates Andy Murray after his win in the first round at the Australian Open

Melbourne, Jan 19 (IANS)

Scottish tennis ace Andy Murray Monday said India's Yuki Bhambri was a much better player than his ranking suggested. Murray kick-started his Australian Open tennis campaign with a straight-sets win over India's Bhambri here.

The sixth-seeded player took two hours and 12 minutes to beat Bhambri 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3).

Murray, however, had to overcome a set-back from being 1-4 down in the third set to recover to win the set in tie-break.

"(He played well) the whole match. He made it very difficult," the Scot said.

"He was injured for much of last year. He shouldn't be ranked 317 in the world."

Bhambri, 22, was the lowest-ranked player in the draw at No.317, but tested Murray on several occasions, with some strong shots from the baseline. With Bhambri's loss, India's competition comes to an end in singles.

Rohan Bopanna, Leander Paes, Mahesh Bupathi and Sania Mirza are the other Indians who will be competing in the doubles.