Andy Murray began the defence of his Madrid Open title with a hard-fought three-set victory over Czech veteran Radek Stepanek. Murrays Masters route Who could Murray face in Madrid? Murray, who won at this venue last year, was given a stern workout by 37-year-old Stepanek before eventually coming through 7-6 3-6 6-1 in two hours and 14 minutes.The Scot said: Not a lot of the match was played on my terms. It was very tough. Next up for Murray will be Frenchman Gilles Simon or Pablo Carreno Busta who meet on Wednesday in the Spanish capital. Radek Stepanek caused Andy Murray plenty of problems Stepanek, who had won the most recent meeting between the men with a straight sets success at Queens in 2014, was to prove equally as awkward under the Madrid lights, starting strongly by breaking Murray in the opening game of the match before comfortably holding his serve to open up a two-game lead. Andy Murray is into the last 16 of the Madrid Open after beating Radek Stepanek Murray had won the two previous clay-court meetings between the men and he began to find his range, taking the chance to break back in the sixth game to put himself back in control.With Stepanek still going for his shots, Murray was happy to play from the back of the court in hope of forcing an error and despite a hint of an opening in game ten for the man from Dunblane, Stepanek found the answers to hold on and level the match at 5-5. The Czech soon found himself 0-30 in front on the Murray serve, but the world No 2 battled back to hold before the first set headed into a tie-break, which Murray took 7-3 - although it was far from straightforward.A dominant hold of serve followed for the Czech to start the second set before Murray cruised into 40-0 on his own serve. However, a blistering barrage from Stepanek saw him break Murrays first service game of the set for the second time in the match before consolidating for a 3-0 lead. Murray kept his cool despite a barrage of winners from his veteran opponent A barrage of Stepanek winners had Murray on the back foot throughout and while Murray forced break points at 2-4 down, he could not convert and after exchanging a couple of holds, Stepanek stood firm on his own serve to take the second set 6-3 in 44 minutes.Murray broke in the second game of the decider to take the initiative in a set for the first time in the match and with a flagging Stepanek feeling the pace, Murray broke again for a 4-0 lead.Despite a flurry from the Czech, who forced break points at 5-1 down, Murrays performance in the third set saw him through in comfortable style eventually and will be what is required as he moves through the draw in pursuit of a first title of the year.You can follow the Madrid Open on Sky Sports 1 on Wednesday from 11am. Also See: Nadal victorious in Madrid Murrays Masters route Cowans questions for Madrid Video Nike Air Max 97 Mens Clearance . 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RIO DE JANEIRO -- Nate Ebners Olympic journey is over, and while he isnt returning to the New England Patriots with a medal, he feels he has learned important lessons from his time in rugby sevens.Ebner and his U.S mens rugby teammates came to Rio targeting a spot on the podium, but those dreams ended on Day 2, leaving the team with a ninth-place finish. Ebner, who won a Super Bowl with the Patriots, now returns to his franchise with a new outlook on pressure situations and with added tackling techniques he is eager to try in the NFL. He said it will be a little strange returning to the Patriots but that it is also second nature, as he has been with the team since 2012.He said he believes his time in rugby has had an impact both on him and on his friends and family, who told him they have enjoyed watching him in rugby as much as football. Ebner will return to the United States with plenty of stories, though it will take time for the whole experience to sink in.From his time in rugby, Ebner learned that he can be very focused, and he has developed an increased mental resilience in the face of mistakes.The biggest thing I take from rugby is that its so relatable to life, as in so many things can go wrong quickly, but you cant dwell on it, and the quicker you put it behind you and get on to the next task, you have a better chance of succeeding, Ebner said.It teaches you not to dwell on things which have gone bad. No one has ever played a perfect sevens game, and you have to go with the punches. And when things dont go your own way, you have to go to the next task.Football is a little different as turnovers are ttwo a game, and while you want those back, rugby is really that way -- you have to get back up and play again later in the day.ddddddddddddThere are a lot of things to learn about rugby as a sport and what its taught me in my life from a character standpoint and the camaraderie with my teammates. Theyre friends Ill have for the rest of my life, and I could talk about rugby forever.On the field, Ebner adapted to rugbys different tackling techniques and sees similarities with the open-field tackles he has to make in the NFL. He will look into those intricacies further when he returns to America, and he hopes to see some of the athletes he faced here in Rio give the NFL a crack in the future.Talking about Olympic favorite Fijis players and whether they could play in the NFL, Ebner said: Theyd be great, look at them.They invaded the contact area, and if they picked up the rules, Im sure theyd be great -- just like some of those American football boys, if they grew up with rugby, Im sure theyd be great too. Hopefully we can get guys like that in the USA playing rugby.The whole experience of the Olympics left Ebner with no regrets, despite the U.S. teams ninth-place finish. He will hang his U.S. shirt proudly on the walls of his house alongside his Patriots jerseys.Its been a once-in-a-lifetime amazing experience that Ill remember forever for what it is individually, and I remember the Super Bowl in the same way, Ebner said. Its been awesome and Im lucky that Ive got to experience both. ' ' '