Andy Murray has got his defence of the Madrid Masters off to a winning start with a hard-fought victory over Italy's Simone Bolelli.

The newly-installed world number three took two hours and eight minutes to see off the Italian as Murray ground out a place in the third round.

Murray, who overtook Novak Djokovic in the world's top three on Monday, edged the first set 6-6 (11-9) before taking the second 6-4.

"That's one of the best matches I've played on clay," said Murray - who reached the Monte Carlo Masters final before bowing out in round two in Rome in his two 2009 clay outings.

"It was a very high standard of match and I managed to stay tough and hit some big shots.

"When I was down some break points in the second set I managed to get myself out of trouble. I tried to just play as if it was a normal tournament on any old surface."

The first set went on serve all the way to the tie-break and Murray was forced to be at his determined best against the world number 61 before taking a 1-0 lead with his fourth set point.

The second set began in similar fashion but having held serve to take a 5-4 lead, Murray sensed his opponent's weakness and grabbed his place in the next round with both hands.