Andy Murray continued his preparation for the Australian Open today with a straight-set victory over David Nalbandian at Kooyong.

The exhibition match provided plenty of entertainment for a good crowd despite the blustery conditions in east Melbourne.

Murray, who has been drawn against young American Ryan Harrison in the first round of the season's opening Grand Slam, eventually prevailed 6-3, 7-6 (10/8).

A tight first set went the way of the Scot when he broke twice from 3-3 although he relinquished the momentum at the start of the second when Nalbandian claimed the Murray serve.

The world No.4, under the watchful eye of new coach Ivan Lendl, hit back to level it at 4-4 although he did cause a scare when he clutched his knee after the opening point of the 10th game.

There seemed no lasting effect, though, as the set went to a tie-breaker, the start of which saw Murray narrowly fail to chase down a wide ball, prompting him to take a swig from a spectator's beer.

The game could have gone either way with the wind causing both men to serve double faults at crucial times but Murray eventually edged it after Nalbandian thrashed a backhand wide.

Meanwhile, Australian Darren Cahill, the Dunblane star's former coach, reckons Lendl is perfect to lead Murray to a maiden Grand Slam victory.

It seems the Czech tennis legend is as obsessive and attentive to detail as a coach as he was as a player.

Cahill, who worked with Murray on a part-time basis last year but has TV commitments during the Grand Slams, was part of the delegation which first met Lendl in Miami two months ago.

He encouraged him to take advantage of the rare opportunity to be coached by a legend of the game.

Lendl won eight Grand Slam titles and Cahill is convinced the 51-year-old can have an uplifting effect on the 24-year-old.

"I think it is going to be a great association," said Cahill. "He [Lendl] has been incredibly fastidious with everything he has done and I think a lot of that is going to wear off on Andy.

"I don't expect this relationship to turn into an instant success, but I think whether it is six months or six years, or however long they stay together, Andy is going to be a better player for it.

"What really convinced me was the time he [Lendl] took to understand Andy, the questions he was asking about his game, about how he approaches certain situations, and how he breaks down the game of the top four or five players in the world."