Andy Murray earns first meeting with world number 10 Casper Ruud in convincing San Diego win
After receiving a wild card entry into the hard-court tournament, Murray beat the 94th-ranked Kudla 6-3 6-2 in a match lasting just 69 minutes.
The 34-year-old, currently ranked 109th, will now face a challenging second round match against Norwegian Ruud, currently the world’s number 10.
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Hide AdMurray, though, is on an upturn in form. He arrived in San Diego after reaching the quarter-finals at the Moselle Open in Metz last week, his best finish in seven tournaments since his return to the court in June, and the former world number one had few problems dispensing with the 29-year-old Kudla, who gained entry as a lucky loser.
The last 16 match will be Murray’s first meeting with Ruud, who has been in strong form himself this year with tournament wins on clay in Geneva, Bastad, Gstaad and Kitzbuhel, with his world ranking rising from 27th in January to his current place in the top 10.
However to earn his place in the second round Murray was no less on form. He won 90% of his first serve points compared with Kudla's 63% and won 47% of his second service points. He also converted three of four break points while not allowing his opponent a single break point over both sets.
Meanwhile Britain's Cameron Norrie won through against Germany's Dominik Koepfer 6-2 7-5 and sixth seed Diego Schwartzman also moved into the second round with a comfortable straight sets win over qualifier Federico Gaio.
The Argentinian beat the Italian 6-2 6-3 to book a round of 16 meeting with South African Lloyd Harris, a 3-6 6-1 6-4 winner over American qualifier Christopher Eubanks.
Sebastian Korda beat fellow American Tommy Paul 6-3 5-7 6-1 and will next play ninth seeded Italian Lorenzo Sonego, who won 6-3 6-4 against Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov beat Hungary's Marton Fucsovics 6-3 1-6 7-5 to set up a second round match with third-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.