Murray bounces back to form

Andy Murray proved reports of his demise had been exaggerated by easily defeating Andreas Seppi 6-2, 6-4 at the Rome Masters to end a three‑match losing streak.

His victory came shortly after world No1 Roger Federer was bundled out of the tournament in his opening match 2-6 ,6-1, 7-5 by Latvia's Ernests Gulbis.

Australian Open finalist Murray used his backhand to great effect to beat his Italian opponent. He said: "I want to do well in every tournament but I feel less pressure on clay because I haven't done as well on that surface.

"People were panicking because I had played a couple of bad tournaments. I have actually been tired since the start of the year and I had a few niggles after the Australian Open. Last week I spent a lot of time on the practice court."