Indian Wells:Andy Murray beats Taro Daniel to secure 700th ATP Tour win
The Briton passed up two break points in the third game before Daniel took the first set in 28 minutes. A more aggressive Murray won the second set only to drop his serve in the first game of the decider.
Murray regrouped, levelled at 3-3 with a brilliant forehand and broke Daniel at 5-4 up to take the match.
He will now play Kazakhstan's world number 33, Alexander Bublik, in the next round.
"It means a lot," Murray Sport about reaching 700 wins.
"I didn't have goals like that, even four or five years ago, but, after what's happened these last few years, these are like small milestones.
"At the end of last year, my goal was to try and reach 800 matches wins, but first things first, let's try and get to 700.
"In my best years, I was winning 65-80 matches, so if I was winning 40-50 matches for the next couple of years, it's certainly doable. I think I'm on nine wins this year, and I'm not playing that well."
The match was the third time Murray had played Japan's Daniel this year.
Daniel came out on top in the second round at the Australian Open before Murray won at the Qatar Open.
Liam Broady, meanwhile, failed to progress past the first round, losing 6-4 4-6 6-4 to Serbia's Miomir Kecmanovic.
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