ANDY MURRAY has been given a walkover into the third round of the Barcelona Open after Bernard Tomic pulled out with a back problem.
Murray had been due to face the Australian yesterday lunchtime having been given a bye in the first round.

But shortly before the start of play the tournament announced that Tomic, who defeated American Dustin Brown in three sets in the first round, had withdrawn.

Although the easy progress is positive news on the surface for Murray, the world No.1 entered the tournament to get more matches under his belt as he works back from an elbow injury.

The Scot returned to action last week in Monte Carlo after more than a month on the sidelines but, having beaten Gilles Muller in his opening match, lost to Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

Murray will play the winner of a clash between Spaniards Albert Montanes and Feliciano Lopez in the third round.

British No 3 Dan Evans is also through to the third round after picking up his first ATP Tour wins on clay and will face fourth seed Dominic Thiem on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Aljaz Bedene won his 14th straight match, beating Robin Haase to reach the quarter-finals of the Hungarian Open. The British No.4 won back-to-back titles on the ATP Challenger Tour before coming through qualifying in Budapest.

After beating Marius Copil in round one, Bedene continued his impressive form with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Dutchman Haase. The world No.68 put a lot of pressure on Haase’s serve, taking two of nine break points in the match while saving the only one he faced.

Bedene will face either second seed Ivo Karlovic or Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur in the last eight.