MONTREAL (AFP) - Scotland's Andy Murray made a triumphant return at the Montreal Masters here Tuesday, vindicating his decision not to rush back from a wrist injury.

Murray, seeded 13th, defeated luckless Robby Ginepri 6-4, 6-4 to keep the American without a win in four attempts north of the border.

After going down a break in the second set, Ginepri threw is racket at his chair and kicked over his on-court nameplate.

Murray, in contrast, was the picture of cool as he calmly resumed a career blocked by a right wrist tendon injury on May 15 in Hamburg.

The 20-year-old said that after postponing his return several times, he was in no rush.

"I just felt like it was not worth having waited 11 weeks, going out and just playing a match for the sake of it," said the man who disappointingly missed both Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

"I just wanted to get ready for this week because this week is guaranteed to count for my ranking. I needed to play here."

Ginepri, who had the best season of his career in 2005, has won just six matches this season and has not defeated Murray in three career attempts.

Murray next faces world No.138 Fabio Fognini from Italy, with No.1 seed Roger Federer all but certain to be facing the winner in the third round.

The victory saw Murray improve his season's win-loss record to 25-7, with a title in San Josein February and a finals appearance in Doha, Qatar.

"I'd spoken about this tournament with (coach) Brad (Gilbert)," Murray said. "We agreed I should go and give it a shot, see what happens.

"If I can come through a couple of matches, that's great. If I'd lost in the first round, that wouldn't have been so good, but I would have had a better understanding of where I'm at.

"Obviously for me the priority is to get fully ready for the US Open," he said of the final Grand Slam of the year which starts in New York on August 27.

No.3 seed Novak Djokovic from Serbia, playing on hardcourts for the first time in five months, meanwhile defeated Nicolas Kiefer from Germany 6-3, 6-3.

After barely pausing for breath since his solid end to last season, the 20-year-old has been slowly wearing down.

His few weeks off last month after Wimbledon re-charged his batteries.

"I'm trying to recover now, be physically ready for the US Open Series because I feel confident on the court," Djokovic said. "I've showed that I can play really good tennis, especially on this surface.

"I can expect some good results in these (next) couple of tournaments."

Ninth-seeded American James Blake defeated Jurgen Melzer of Austria 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) to set up a second-round match against Australian Lleyton Hewitt.

Germany's Tommy Haas, in his second event back after an abdominal pull forced him out at Wimbledon, defeated Agustin Calleri of Argentina 6-3, 7-6 (8/6).

Finn Jarkko Nieminen, facing military service in the near future, advanced into the second round over France's Julien Benneteau 6-3, 6-4.

Rafael Nadal, who won this title in 2005, the last time the tournament was held in Montreal, will line up in the second round against Marat Safin from Russia, the former number one advancing when Sweden's Robin Soderling retired with a wrist injury after winning two of three games.

Roger Federer, who lifted the trophy last year in Toronto, which hosts the event every other year, will launch his defence with a second-round clash with Ivo Karlovic.

Croatia's Karlovic beat Max Mirnyi of Belarus 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) to earn his spot.