Andy Murray marks return from injury with Monte Carlo victory over Gilles Muller

The world number one was playing his first match since March 12 after recovering from an elbow problem that affected his serve.

Ahead of the match, Murray insisted he was serving normally again, but three double faults in the first four points of the match got him into early trouble.

He then had to save a set point before reeling off four games in a row and, despite continuing to play some way below his best, battled through the second set to win 7-5 7-5.

Murray told Sky Sports: "It was a tough first match, I started the match pretty slow, I obviously wasn't serving that well at the start.

"I haven't been in the best rhythm on serve because I only started serving at full speed four or five days ago. I knew it would take a bit of time but I wasn't expecting to start serving like that."

Murray will next face 15th seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who eased to a 6-2 6-2 win over Carlos Berlocq.

Nine-time champion Rafael Nadal was given a real scare by Britain's Kyle Edmund before coming through 6-0 5-7 6-3.

Nadal had never previously lost more than four games in a set in his opening match at the tournament but, after breezing through the opener, was blown off course by the power of Edmund's forehand.

The 22-year-old had a chance to lead 3-1 in the decider but Nadal held firm and ultimately proved just the stronger.

Third seed and former champion Stan Wawrinka dropped a set to Jiri Vesely, who defeated Novak Djokovic here last season, but recovered to win 6-2 4-6 6-2.

It was a good day for the seeds, with Dominic Thiem defeating Robin Haase 6-3 6-2, Marin Cilic thumping Jeremy Chardy 6-3 6-0 and Alexander Zverev, who next plays Nadal, seeing off Feliciano Lopez 6-0 6-4.

Tomas Berdych recovered from a set down to defeat 39-year-old Tommy Haas 3-6 6-1 6-4 while Lucas Pouille and Pablo Carreno Busta also won.