Sir Andy Murray has earned a straight-sets victory over Jeremy Chardy in the opening round of the Qatar Open to prolong his winning streak to 25 competitive matches.
The 29-year-old, recently named in the Queen's New Year's honours list following a stellar 2016, came out on top 6-0 7-6(2) in the Middle East.
Murray, last defeated in a competitive outing in August's Cincinnati Masters final, took the first set in 20 minutes as he broke each of his opponent's three serves to cruise ahead in the match.
Chardy did offer more of a resistance in the second set by earning his first break of the contest in the opener, which Murray soon recovered from to take it to a tie-break.
Murray racked up seven points on the spin to get himself safely over the line, though, setting up a meeting with Austrian Gerald Melzer in the next round.
