BANGKOK, Sept 27: Tim Henman condemned a frustrated Andy Murray to his ninth first-round exit of the year with an impressive 6-4, 6-2 victory in an all-British clash at the Thailand Open on Wednesday.

It took the former British number one 55 minutes to win the first set after Murray crawled back into the match from 5-2 down.

The Scottish teenager had beaten Henman on two previous occasions, at Masters tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati, but a heavy competition schedule looked to have taken its toll.

Murray, who lost to Roger Federer in the final here last year, staved off four set points before giving way in the first.

Henman then dominated the second set, varying his game and keeping his composure as Murray grew more frustrated.

Number three seed James Blake of the United States made light work of his opening match, taking just 45 minutes to get past Marin Cilic of Croatia 6-1, 6-2.

Former world No 1 Marat Safin of Russia got past a tough first round test against Kevin Kim going through 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Two Thai players went through to the second round for the first time in the competition's four-year history after Paradorn Srichaphan defeated Feliciano Lopez 6-1, 6-4 and Danai Udomchoke beat Switzerland's George Bastl 6-3, 6-0.

Results:

First round: 8-Paradorn Srichaphan (Thailand) beat Feliciano Lopez (Spain) 6-1, 6-4; 3-James Blake (US) beat Marin Cilic (Croatia) 6-1, 6-2; Danai Udomchoke (Thailand) beat George Bastl (Switzerland) 6-3, 6-0; Marat Safin (Russia) beat Kevin Kim (US) 2-6, 6-1, 6-4; Benjamin Balleret (Monaco) beat Alexander Waske (Germany) 7-5, 2-6, 6-1; Tim Henman (Britain) beat 4-Andy Murray (Britain) 6-4, 6-2; Rainer Schuettler (Germany) beat Hyung-Taik Lee (South Korea) 6-1, 6-4; 5-Jarkko Nieminen (Finland) beat Edgardo Massa (Argentina) 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 6-2; Julien Benneteau (France) beat Satoshi Iwabuchi (Japan) 6-4, 6-2.—Reuters