MONTREAL, August 11, 2009 (AFP) - Andy Murray's summer hardcourt season began at the Montreal Masters on Tuesday with a satisfying 6-4, 6-2 win over Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, as the Scot took his first step towards a possible move to the world number two ranking.

Third-ranked Murray had a few niggle to iron out but was not at all dissatisfied with his showing in just over 90 minutes against the number 36 winner of last month's Stuttgart clay title.

"I shanked a few returns," admitted Murray, who trained for more than a week to prepare for the start of his post-Wimbledon season in North America.

"I'm hoping that will get better with a few matches. Overall, I'm pleased with the state of my game right now."

Should last year's US Open finalist against Roger Federer advance further than injury returnee Rafael Nadal this week, ATP calculations show that he could take over the second spot from the Spaniard, whose tendinitis-plagued knees are now a constant worry.

"It impossible not to think about it a little bit," confessed Murray. "But when I'm playing my match, it's the furthest thing from my mind.

"The only thing I was thinking was winning and nothing to do with rankings."

Murray fired nine aces and broke three times to improve to 46-7 on the season with four titles.

The Scot said that with major players all returning to court for the first time since Wimbledon, the favorite's field is not limited to just Nadal and Federer.

"Everyone is here because they've taken a break are eager to play matches and play well.

"Rafa, with his personality and the way he is on court, I would expect him to be desperate to get back out there and want to play very well. He's not going to be mentally tired."

Overnight storms yielded to afternoon sun for Murray's match as the Scot won the first set in 48 minutes. Murray began the second set with a break, saved break points in the fourth and sixth games to advance.

"He's a very good player," said the winner, now 46-7 this season. "Seeing the shots he hit, I knew going into the match I was going to have to play solid and make sure I took my opportunities.

"Once he gets on a roll on a serve he's tough to break down."

Eighth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko, playing his first match on cement this summer, put out Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2) to join Murray in the last 16.

In the opening round, veteran Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero beat injured Lleyton Hewitt 6-1, 6-3 in the first round as the Australian was hampered by a muscle tear he suffered last week in Washington against Juan Del Potro.

"In the back of my mind, I didn't want to do any more damage to my leg, either, obviously before going into another Masters Series next week but more the US Open in a couple week's time," said Hewitt, like Ferrero a former number one.

"I haven't been able to practise for the four days since coming here, so I wasn't expecting a whole lot out there today."

Spain's 15th seed Tommy Robredo defeated qualifier Alex Bogomolov 6-4, 6-2.