Murray Survives Night Test; Joins Stepanek, Nishikori In Second Round

© AFP/Getty ImagesAndy Murray began his 2012 ATP World Tour season with victory over Mikhail Kukushkin.

World No. 4 Andy Murray survived a first-round test on his Brisbane International debut Tuesday.

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The top-seeded  Scot, making his 2012 ATP World Tour season debut, fought back to beat Kazakhstani Mikhail Kukushkin 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 in two hour and 10 minutes.

Murray fought back from a 2-5 deficit to 5-5 and at 40/30 was serving for a 6-5 lead. He left a Kukushkin forehand that landed on the baseline. Kukushkin broke serve and went onto close out the 58-minute opener with a hold to advantage.

Murray saved one break point at 1-1 in the second set, before going onto break Kukushkin's serve to 15 for a 3-1 lead. He hit seven aces and dropped 11 points on serve to level the score at one-set apiece.

The 24 year old, who recently announced he will be coached by former World No. 1 Ivan Lendl, swept through the deciding set, breaking Kukushkin's serve to 15, both times, at 2-2 and 4-2. Murray is bidding to reach his 31st tour-level final this week (21-9).

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"He started very quickly and I was half a step slow, wasn’t getting to the balls like I would have liked to," admitted Murray. "But I ended up maybe being a bit unlucky not to get that first set once I got back into it. I managed to turn it round well. I started to play better at the end of the second set. It was getting to more long rallies, longer exchanges and then by the third set he started making more mistakes."

"It’s different [playing a tournament in the first week of the season]. The last couple of years I’ve played the Hopman Cup, [where] I haven’t had guys coming out and swinging like they have done here; it’s a little bit more relaxed and less pressure on you to do well. So that’s the good thing about playing a tournament this week."

World No. 28 Radek Stepanek continued his success in Brisbane, topping Matthew Ebden 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Having split sets with the Perth resident, Stepanek broke for a 3-1 lead in the third set after Ebden double faulted. The 2009 champion finished off the home favourite in two hours and 12 minutes, improving to a 13-2 record at the event.

In the second round, the 33-year-old Czech will play Jarkko Nieminen. The Finn defeated qualifier Jesse Levine 7-6(4), 6-2.

Fourth seed Kei Nishikori rallied to defeat Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in two hours and nine minutes. The 25th-ranked Nishikori trailed 4-1 in the third set before winning the final five games to advance. Nishikori next faces Marcos Baghdatis, who edged Ryan Harrison Monday evening.

German Philipp Petzschner knocked out his doubles partner Jurgen Melzer, upsetting the No. 7 seed 6-1, 7-5. Petzschner converted all three of his break point opportunities to remain undefeated against the Austrian, beating him for the third time.

Tommy Haas joined countryman Petzschner in the second round with a 6-3, 7-5 win over wild card Marinko Matosevic. The 33 year old saved six of the seven break points he faced to claim victory in one hour and 38 minutes.