Murray shakes off lethargy ahead of coach Lendl’s arrival

Murray completed 2011 in some style with victories in three of his final five tournaments before a groin injury ended his challenge at the ATP World Tour finals but he almost suffered a miserable start to his new season after dropping the first set against a player ranked 91st in the world.

However, he recovered to earn a 5-7 6-3 6-2 win in 2hrs 10 mins.

The world No 4 and top seed, whose new coach Ivan Lendl is due to arrive in Queensland later this week, will face Gilles Muller of Luxembourg in the second round.

Murray admitted he was not at his best at the start and was taken by surprise at the way Kukushkin played early on.

“He was hitting winners from all over the place. I was a little bit slow but I wasn’t expecting him to come out swinging like that.

“He was hitting the ball great so I was glad I was able to turn it around. You’re meant to be ready from the start and I wasn’t quite there, but I played better towards the end, I started to move a little bit better.

“My body loosened up a little bit so hopefully I will pull up okay (today).”

In his first meeting with Kukushkin at this level, Murray could hardly have had a worse start as he found himself trailing 4-0 just 20 minutes into the contest.

The British No 1 finally got on the scoreboard in game five, but Kukushkin held again to make it 5-1 and then the Kazakh player fashioned a set point on Murray’s next service game.

However, Murray was able to save that and it looked like being the turning point for the Scot as he rattled off four successive games to level the scores up at 5-5.

But, in serving to make it 6-5, Murray suffered another setback as Kukushkin broke again and then, after Murray had missed a break point of his own that would have levelled it at 6-6, his opponent served out for the set.

Murray got himself back on track by winning the second set, making the decisive break in the fourth game and then made quick work of Kukushkin in the third set to clinch the match.

Murray’s mother Judy did not spring any surprises in her first Fed Cup team selection for the Europe/Africa Zone Group I fixtures in Israel next month.

Experienced duo Elena Baltacha and Anne Keothavong and youngsters Heather Watson and Laura Robson make up the quartet with fellow teenager Tara Moore also travelling to Eilat as reserve.

The group takes the form of round-robin matches, with the 15 nations split into pools and the winners of those playing off for the two spots available in the World Group II play-offs in April.

British No 1 Baltacha, who won her opening match at the WTA Tour event in Auckland, said: “I’ve always loved playing Fed Cup and it’s always an honour to play for your country. Now that we’re opening a new chapter with Judy coming on board, I’m even more excited to be part of the team. I’m sure we all are.”