Andy Murray rolled into round two of the Heineken Open in Auckland with plaudits for his handsome victory and criticism of his momentary lack of good judgement.

Britain's number three was a 7-5 6-2 winner against Denmark's Kenneth Carlsen - world number 62 beating the player ranked one place above him.

And while his courtside faux pas did not quite elevate him alongside Richard Krajicek in the foot-in-mouth stakes, for a brief while it made the 18-year-old Scot a target for hecklers.

''I think we both played like women in the first set,'' Murray claimed, to a chorus of booing from the Stadium Court crowd.

In tennis terms, Krajicek aced that remark at Wimbledon 14 years ago.

''I may have exaggerated a bit when I said that 80 per cent of the top 100 women are fat pigs,'' said Krajicek. ''What I meant to say was 75 per cent of the top 100 women are fat pigs.''

That remark from the Dutchman has taken a career of explaining away, while for Murray the justification for his remark was swift, and apparently reasonable.

When quizzed further about what he had said, Murray stressed he was referring back to comments made by Russian Hopman Cup player Svetlana Kuznetsova.

''I was watching a Hopman Cup match on TV from here and Kuznetsova said it after there were nine breaks in the first set, so that's why I said it,'' said Murray.

Next up for Murray tomorrow is the Croatian Mario Ancic, a big-serving player who destroyed Tim Henman in straight sets at Wimbledon 2004.

''He's always going to be difficult to play against because he serves so well, and when the ball's moving around quickly like it does here it's always hard to read his serve,'' Murray observed.

''I think if I serve well, read a lot of balls and don't make so many unforced errors I've got a good chance of pushing him.''

Should Murray claim the scalp of the world number 21, it would set him up wonderfully for the Australian Open, beginning next week at Melbourne Park.

His stated objective this week is to play three matches, yet with one under his belt, the draw has not been kind.

The faster the court, the more dangerous Ancic becomes, and with the hard surface in his favour, he too will be looking to make a statement this week, with the year's first grand slam approaching.

The fifth seed brushed aside New Zealander Mark Neilson 6-1 6-2 in his opener, but Murray had a good look last summer at the man dubbed 'Son of Goran', albeit on grass.

''I played an exhibition match against him just before Queen's last year and lost 9-5,'' said Murray.

With a place in the top 20 his end-of-year target, Murray, who last season climbed from outside the top 400 to 64th, still sees room for improvement in his performance.

Starting with the Ancic match, he intends to aim higher, and anything thereafter will come as a bonus.

So too will most of the tournaments between now and the grass-court season, as Murray was picking up scant few ranking points in the first half of 2005, which he spent largely on the Challenger and Future tours.

Two Challenger tournament victories later, and after a remarkable run to the Bangkok final, Murray finds himself in the spotlight wherever he plays.

After warm-weather training in South Africa over the winter, he is convinced in his ability to maintain a steep climb up the rankings.

''I want to play like I was at the end of last year,'' he said after seeing off Carlsen, ''and with the things I've worked on it should be better.''

l Martina Hingis' latest comeback event saw her crash out in the first round, although she was up against former world number one Justine Henin-Hardenne at the Medibank International in Sydney.

Hingis, who reached the semi-finals at the Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts last week, was beaten in straight sets, 6-3 6-3, by the Belgian.

Henin-Hardenne is on the comeback trail herself, having been out since October with a leg injury.