Andy Murray black and blue as he battles through

The Scotsman can allow himself to reflect on a good night in New York that has only improved his chances of winning his first Grand Slam.

The British No1 eased through 7-5, 6-3, 7-5 against the Latvian yet the news from elsewhere at Flushing Meadows was even better.

Two of the most dangerous opponents in his half of the draw - 19th seed Stanislas Wawrinka and 27th seed Ivo Karlovic, the most feared server in the game - both lost in the first round.

Karlovic was knocked out by Ivan Navarro of Spain 6-4, 7-6, 7-6, who could now be the British No1's third- round opponent while Wawrinka was beaten 4-6, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-3 by Nicolas Lapentti.

Murray produced one of his famous counter-attacking performances in his win, allowing Gulbis to make the costly errors that have been such a feature of his tennis over the last year.

The Latvian was the world No38 in August 2008 but has not won back to back matches - apart from the Davis Cup - since that heady period of his young career.

The 21-year-old, a year younger than Murray, has a flashy game and can hurt opponents with his forehand power and serve.

However, Murray is so confident after rising to world No2 that he can ride out any storm and easily dealt with the tricky periods in this contest. He now faces Chile's Paul Capdeville in the second round, a friend from his days learning the game in Barcelona.

Night play on the Arthur Ashe Centre Court at Flushing Meadows can test the very best players due to the constant movement in the crowd and the big screens that show replays.

Gulbis initiated possibly the worst challenge in the history of the Hawkeye system when he insisted a Murray serve had been out. When the system had finished recreating the serve, it showed the ball in by more than a foot.

It brought laughter from the crowd, an apology from Gulbis and a broad smile on the face of Murray.

The Scot is better known for his angry outbursts and to see him smiling was very disconcerting.

Murray said: "That was the worst challenge I have seen and it was probably the furthest in. There are some where it might be an inch or two from the sideline and a foot from the baseline. But that was the longest distance in both ways."

There were no more smiles because extreme emotional outbursts were not on Murray's agenda last night as he focused on getting his US Open challenge off to a solid start.

Murray began strongly, serving first and winning the game comfortably with the loss of just one point.

He made the first breakthrough in the sixth game after a series of forehand errors from Gulbis but at 4-2 the Latvian earned double break points and he hammered a forehand pass down the line to get the set back on serve at 4-3.

It remained that way until Gulbis served at 6-5 down and Murray raced to 40-0 on his rival's serve before the Latvian scrambled back to deuce.

He then missed a reachable volley to give the higher-ranked player a fifth set point, which he took after stranding Gulbis at the net having hustled to return his drop shot.

There was no hanging around in the second set as Murray stormed into a 3-0 lead after breaking Gulbis in the second game and he eventually closed out the set 6-3.

The final set was going with serve when at 4-4 Murray hit the deck chasing a Gulbis drop shot, tripping up at full pace and rolling into his opponents' kit bag as the game was lost.

Murray stayed down for a short time and rose with a wary look at his left elbow as he sought to recover at the break.

He returned to the court, serving to save the set at 5-4 down and showed no ill effects to level it up at 5-5. Murray finally broke the deadlock in the 11th game, coming from 15-40 down to seal the break with a backhand cross-court winner and leaving him to serve for the match as he returned to his seat with a roar and a fist pump.

Murray gave himself double match point and took the first one as Gulbis netted a backhand to complete a satisfactory night's work.