World No.1 Rafael Nadal began his quest for a uniquely elusive title when he defeated Lukas Rosol in the Qatar Open on Tuesday.

The Spaniard’s 6-2, 7-6 win against the Czech who upset him sensationally in the second round of Wimbledon 2012, carried him into the second round of the Doha tournament on Tuesday.

This is the only ATP World Tour tournament which Nadal has failed in five attempts to win.

Nadal insisted, however, revenge was far from his mind despite celebrating the win with an extravagant air punch.

“I never take revenge,” he said. “Thinking about revenge is a bad way to start a match, in my opinion.

“You have to start calm and with the mind very open to analyse what’s going on in the match.

“I was a little bit nervous. I didn’t have a great memory of the last match against him. After that I hadn’t played for almost eight months, so it was a bad feeling.”

There were moments when it seemed Rosol’s strident style might again prove disruptive for Nadal, especially in a second set in which the top seed had repeatedly to summon his fighting qualities against the world No.47.

Earlier, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray needed only 37 minutes to win his first match in four months on the ATP world Tour.

Murray was a 6-0, 6-0 winner against Qatar’s Mousa Zayed, in his comeback from surgery on a back injury which also caused pain in his leg and foot.

But the brief evidence of Tuesday’s mismatch victory over a local wild card entry is that the operation may have been a success and his freedom of movement improved.

Murray next plays Florian Mayer, the world No.40 from Germany, and could be headed for a quarter-final with Fernando Verdasco, the eighth-seeded Spaniard.

Later titleholder Richard Gasquet began his defence with a straight sets win, despite rumours that he might withdraw because of a back ailment sustained in practice here three days ago.

The fifth-seeded Frenchman appeared vulnerable on his second serve, but struck the ball sweetly off the ground in a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Karim Hossam, a wild card player from Egypt.

It earned Gasquet a meeting with his compatriot Gael Monfils, who is still remembered for contesting a fine final with Roger Federer here in 2006, and with whom the head-to-head reckoning stands at four wins each.