Murray, competing after accepting a wildcard, lost the opening set before recovering to win 2-6 6-2 6-3.

"I got better as the match went on - I had to start going for my shots a bit more," the 32-year-old said.

He reached his first singles quarter-final in more than a year at the China Open earlier in October.

Murray, who has won the title in Shanghai on three previous occasions - in 2010, 2011 and 2016 - improved after a difficult opening set in which he was broken twice by the world number 56.

The three-time Grand Slam winner took the second set though after breaking in the Argentine's first and last service games of the set.

Murray, who improved throughout the contest, broke his opponent's serve twice in the final set to ensure his victory.

The Scotsman, who is now ranked 289th in the world, will face a second-round match against Italy's world number 12 Fabio Fognini, who won his first-round match against American Sam Querrey.