|
 Under bright skies, with the Center Court grass glistening, his
grandparents in the royal box and Murray resplendent in spotless
white attire, the 27-year-old walked out to a standing ovation and
rewarded his fans by dismantling Belgium's David Goffin 6-1 6-4 7-5.
Men's top seed Novak Djokovic, the man Murray beat in spine-tingling
fashion last July to become the first home men's singles champion at
the All England Club for 77 years, also began in style, crushing
Andrey Golubev 6-0 6-1 6-4 in his first grasscourt outing of the
year.
Dark horse Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, winner of the Queen's Club
grasscourt title this month, and sixth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych
both eased into the second round but there were some early
casualties in the women's draw, notably former U.S. Open champion
Samantha Stosur, the 17th seed, losing to Belgian Yanina Wickmayer.
Women's second seed Li Na suffered an early fright when she trailed
5-3 to Polish qualifier Paula Kania before completing a 7-5 6-2
victory against the world No.183 making her Wimbledon debut.
It has not all been plain sailing for Murray since that scorching
Sunday afternoon when he ended decades of British men's failure at
the most famous tournament in the sport.
Spinal surgery, a split with coach Ivan Lendl and up-and-down form
meant there were a few question marks over the third seed as he
prepared for two weeks of Murray Mania.
But, with new coach Amelie Mauresmo watching, Murray went through
his full repertoire against a lightweight opponent who played the
supporting role to perfection, engaging in some eye-catching rallies
without threatening to rain on Murray's parade.
"I enjoyed it for the walk to the chair. Then when I sat down, it
was time to get on with business," Murray, seeking to become the
first man to retain the title since Roger Federer in 2007, told
reporters.
"I was nervous yesterday. I was probably a bit more nervous
yesterday than I was today. But it does help if you can get ahead
early, like I did at the beginning of the match, I got an early
break, that helped settle them down a little bit."
Only in the third set did Goffin, a more dangerous player than his
104th ranking suggests, have Murray sweating, earning two break
points in the fourth game but his chance came and went before the
crowd favorite turned the screws.
"I thought it was a very high-standard match. I was glad to finish
it in three," Murray, who will play Slovenia's Blaz Rola in round
two, added.
BIG-NAME CASUALTY
While the samba beat and carnival atmosphere dominates in the soccer
World Cup in far-flung Brazil, the 128th gathering of the world's
top tennis players in suburban southwest London provided a more
tranquil setting for the thousands of fans streaming through the
gates.
[to top of second column] |
Strawberries and cream and Pimms, rather than bikinis and
caipirinhas, are the traditional currency at Wimbledon which is this
year boasting record prize-money - including 27,000 pounds ($45,900)
for those bowing out in the first round.
Australia's Stosur will have to make do with that tidy sum after
losing 6-3 6-4 to Wickmayer on a packed Court Three.
"I mean, in some ways it's good and in some ways it sucks, because
you're done, you wait another four or five weeks till you get to
play again," Stosur, who has a lamentable record at Wimbledon where
she has now lost six first-round matches, said.
American 18th seed Sloane Stephens, a quarter-finalist here last
year, was also out before desserts were served in the posh
hospitality areas, losing 6-2 7-6(6) to Russian Maria Kirilenko.
Men's 18th seed Fernando Verdasco, who led Murray by two sets in the
quarter-finals last year before succumbing, was also bundled out in
four sets by Australian Marinko Matosevic.
There was an early scare, too, for Berdych, but he rallied from a
set down to beat Romania's Victor Hanescu while Dimitrov, boyfriend
of Maria Sharapova, dispatched American Ryan Harrison.
Djokovic, in his first competitive match since losing to Rafa Nadal
in the French Open final, made a mockery of rumors about his fitness
when he won the first 11 games against Kazakhstan's Golubev.
Crunching winners left, right and center, the Serb father-to-be was
in unstoppable form as he put down an ominous marker.
"It's never easy, you can never underestimate any opponent
especially with no matches under your belt coming into Wimbledon,"
he said.
"I started extremely well; serving great and just played a very good
game for the first match."
($1 = 0.5876 British Pounds)
(Editing by David Goodman and Clare Lovell)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
