Dominic Thiem cruised through the first round of the Madrid Open in straight sets on Thursday, while former winner Andy Murray suffered an early exit.

Dominic Thiem cruised through the first round of the Madrid Open in straight sets on Thursday, while former winner Andy Murray suffered an early exit.

Thiem, who has twice finished as runner-up at this event, made short work of Britain's Kyle Edmund in a 6-4 6-1 win to set up a second-round meeting with fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The Austrian won 86 per cent of points on his first serve (24 of 28) and saved all four break points against him as Edmund just could not get himself into the contest.

Elsewhere, Murray, who claimed titles in Madrid in 2008 and 2015, could not embark on another such run, with the veteran dispatched by Andrea Vavassori in a 6-2 7-6 (9-7) defeat.

The Italian was particularly dominant at the net against Murray, winning 13 of 17 such points, while the 35-year-old managed just five of 14.

Qualifier Roman Safiullin saw off a fightback from Chile Open winner Nicolas Jarry to progress 6-2 3-6 6-3, setting up a clash with Tommy Paul in the second round, while Dusan Lajovic followed up his win at the Srpska Open by beating Jason Kubler 6-3 6-3.