Australian Matthew Ebden will be the first opponent for defending ATP Miami Masters champion Andy Murray after the Scotsman revealed his shock split with coach Ivan Lendl.
Ebden, ranked 67th, booked his Friday match against the reigning Wimbledon champion by defeating Poland’s Lukasz Kubot 4-6 6-4 6-4 as men’s play began on Wednesday at the ATP and WTA hardcourt event.
Murray beat Ebden in their only previous match, a Shanghai quarter-final three years ago.
The post-Lendl test comes in the wake of Murray’s announcement that he has called it quits with his Czech-born coach after a two-year partnership.
“I’m eternally grateful to Ivan for all his hard work over the past two years, the most successful of my career so far,” Murray said.
“I’ll take some time with the team to consider the next steps and how we progress from here.”
Under Lendl’s guidance, Murray won a 2012 London Olympic gold medal, the 2012 US Open and last year’s Wimbledon title.
Ebden will be joined by compatriot Marinko Matosevic in the second round after his 1-6 6-4 7-6 (6) win over Colombian Alejandro Falla.
It proved a real battle for Matosevic, who suffered a first-set blasting but recovered to claim victory in almost two-and-a-half hours.
The Victorian next faces 20th seed Kei Nishikori of Japan, who defeated him in five sets in the opening round of this year’s Australian Open 2014.
Fellow Australians Lleyton Hewitt and Bernard Tomic play their opening matches on Thursday.
Meanwhile Argentine eighth seed Juan Martin del Potro withdrew from the Miami event, still suffering with the left wrist injury which has compromised his season.
“It’s a pity because this is a special tournament for me since there are many Latin fans and Argentines in particular,” Del Potro said.
German lucky loser Benjamin Becker replaced del Potro in the draw, which has all seeds given byes into the second round.
Del Potro has been troubled by the wrist since injuring it in his opening match at the Australian Open three days after winning the Sydney title in early January.
The former US Open champion has tried to play but with little success, winning one round at Melbourne and reaching a Rotterdam quarter-final before retiring in the first round of Dubai against India’s Somdev Devverman.
In opening men’s play, Adrian Mannarino of France beat Russian veteran Nikolay Davydenko, the 2008 champion, 6-4 7-5.
The French pair of Jeremy Chardy and Julien Benneteau advanced, with Chardy needing more than two and a half hours to beat Argentine Juan Monaco 7-5 3-6 7-6 (7-5) and Benneteau stopping British wild card Kyle Edmund 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 6-2.
