Andy Murray from Britain eased past French qualifier Paul-Henri Mathieu with a 6-2, 6-3 victory to reach the second round of China Open in Beijing on Tuesday.
By the triumph, the current world number four extended the record against his 28-year-old opponent to a perfect 4-0.
Mathieu had lost his last nine meetings against world top ten players, and the defeat on Tuesday increased it into ten.
"It was a good first round," said Murray. "I thought I did well. I started the match good and didn't give him any opportunities really."
Both players held their first service game, but Mathieu missed his second. The second-seeded Briton needed five break chances to get his first break, leading 3-1 in the beginning of the first set. Mathieu was broken again in the seventh set, allowing Murray to close the first set 6-2.
The second set went on an identical process with the first. Though Mathieu played more aggressive in attacking, he made too many unforced errors to keep all his service games. Murray completed his four break to win the second set 6-3.
Murray was asked again about his future coach after the match, and he again gave an uncertain answer.
"I haven't made any approaches yet to anyone, because I'm still trying to decide exactly what it is that I want," he said. " Like I say, I'll probably make that decision before the end of this year."
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