Andy Murray booked his place in the third round of the Rogers Cup in Montreal with a 6-4 6-2 victory over battling Frenchman Jeremy Chardy.
The world number three was forced to save a total of six break points to overcome his opponent, and will now face either Gael Monfils or Juan Carlos Ferrero in the Masters Series event.
The Briton broke Chardy in the very first game but a landslide victory failed to materialise as the world number 38 produced flashes of inspiration amongst an array of unforced errors.
The Frenchman had an early chance to break back in the fourth game, but Murray hit back from 40-0 down and had to save an additional break point to retain his lead.
But Chardy refused to lie down and after fluffing a 40-15 lead in the seventh game saved three break points before holding serve, frustrating Murray who lacked consistency on his return to action for the first time since Wimbledon.
Chardy held serve again in the ninth game and, not for the first time, looked assured at the net with a crunching winner, but Murray had little trouble in serving out the set in 50 minutes.
The second set began in similar fashion as Chardy was broken after a double fault, and as Murray looked to get on top he earned two break points on the Frenchman's next service game, although once again he held on.
But the Scot appeared to waver as Chardy continued to fight, forcing the Wimbledon semi-finalist to save a break point in the fourth game and a further three in the sixth as Chardy failed to convert chances to level.
The save boosted Murray, who quickly broke again in the next game for a 5-2 lead and then served out on his first match point to complete the win in an hour and 34 minutes.
Murray admitted it was good to be back in action following a few weeks' rest after Wimbledon.
"I thought it was very good," he said of his performance live on Sky Sports Xtra after the match.
"He served very well in the first set and the beginning of the second, he was going for big shots on both sides and I just had to try and stay solid and force him into some errors.
"The one thing I wanted from this tournament was to play a lot of matches, three of four to get back into the swing of things.
"I prepared really well for this summer stretch and I kind of trusted myself at the beginning of the match because I had trained well in Miami."
