Andy Murray battles past Matteo Berrettini to set up meeting with Cameron Norrie as comeback gathers pace

The former world No 1 prevailed over the US Open semi-finalist to set up an all-British clash in the second round in Beijing

Andy Murray won again as he continues his comeback (Getty)

Andy Murray battled past Matteo Berrettini in a tough straight-sets win to advance to the second round of the China Open where he will face fellow Brit Cameron Norrie.

The former world No 1 had to negotiate two tie-breaks against the eighth seed before clinching victory 7-6 (2) 7-6 (7) in just over two hours in Beijing.

World No 13 Berrettini has enjoyed a fine year after making the US Open semi-finals but could not deny the Scot, who is gathering momentum in his comeback from injury.

Murray even rallied in each set after going down a break to earn his second and biggest ATP Tour singles victory since hip surgery in January.

The 32-year-old broke Berrettini, who was serving for the first set, and went on to dominate the tie-break and again - in the second set - with Berrettini 2-0 up, the Scot hit back to level the scores before celebrating victory after a second tie-break.

On Thursday, Murray was knocked out of the Zhuhai Championships at the last-16 stage after a three-set tussle with Australia's Alex De Minaur as he continued his comeback after seeing off Tennys Sandgren in the opening round.

Last month, Murray committed to playing for four weeks in a row as this week's tournament in Beijing is sandwiched in between his outings in Zhuhai and his wild card appointment at the Rolex Shanghai Masters before he returns to Europe to compete in the European Open in Antwerp.

Andy Murray battled past Matteo Berrettini in Beijing (Getty)

Next up for Murray is Wednesday's last-16 clash with compatriot Norrie, whose first-round opponent Cristian Garin took a nasty tumble during a first-set tie-break on Monday and - after losing it - retired injured.

PA Sport contributed to this report