Andy Murray is more afraid of losing his wedding ring than a tennis match these days but that did not stop him from storming to a 10th successive win on clay at the Rome Masters yesterday.

Fresh from winning back-to-back titles in Munich and Madrid, Murray was once seen sporting his wedding ring tied around his shoelaces as he beat France‘s Jeremy Chardy 6-4 6-3.

“I won’t lose it if it’s tied to my shoelace,” Murray told Sky Sport Italia. “As soon as the match is over I put it back on.

“If I’d keep it in my bag I’d have lost it already.”

Murray, who married Kim Sears last month, faced two break points in the sixth game of the opening set as Chardy tried to create another early upset after knocking out Roger Federer in the same round here 12 months ago.

But Murray held on to breeze through the rest of the match by outfoxing Chardy with his touch, powerful serve and backhand dropshots.

In the women’s event, second seed Simona Halep crushed American Alison Riske 6-3 6-0, while seventh seed Ana Ivanovic fell to Russia‘s Daria Gavrilova after a three-hour battle.

The former French Open champion saved seven match points but eventually fell 5-7 7-6(2) 7-6(7).