Murray in cruise control

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No.4 seed Andy Murray has cruised into the second round of the US Open with a straight sets victory over Slovakian Lukas Lacko on Thursday.

Murray began his campaign for a maiden Grand Slam title with a comfortable 6-3 6-2 6-2 victory, crushing Lacko in one hour and 51 minutes.

The Briton will face Jamaican Dustin Brown in the second round.

Day three at Flushing Meadows saw two big upsets in the men's singles, with Frenchman Michael Llodra defeating Wimbledon finalist and No.7 seed Tomas Berdych, and 18-year-old qualifier Ryan Harrison winning past No.15 seed Ivan Ljubicic.

Berdych was unable to find an answer for Llodra's powerful serve, going down 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 6-4.

Llodra moves into the second round where he will face Romanian Victor Hanescu.

American teenager Harrison delighted his home crowd with a 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-4 victory over an out-of-sorts Ljubicic.

The Croatian made an astonishing 51 unforced errors to hand the match to his inexperienced opponent, who advances to face Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round.

Elsewhere, Sam Querrey overcame a stern test from fellow American Bradley Klahn, dropping the second set before prevailing 6-3 4-6 7-5 6-4 against the No. 596-ranked wildcard.

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