LONDON, July 3, 2017
Defending champion Andy Murray opened his 12th Wimbledon campaign with a straightforward 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 win over lucky loser Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in Monday’s first match on Centre Court.
The Brit was tested by the #NextGenATP star, but the 20-year-old showed his inexperience with a series of erratic shots at times. During the encounter, which was interrupted by rain delays, Murray’s hip didn’t appear to give him too many problems. The World No. 1 closed the match out after one hour and 43 minutes.
“I was a bit nervous this morning,” said Murray, who is looking to become the first British player to defend a Grand Slam title since Fred Perry won Wimbledon from 1934 to 1936. “I hadn’t been able to do as much as I would have liked in the build-up. I didn’t know the guy I was playing. Obviously, first match at a slam, there’s always a few extra nerves. Once I got out there and got the early break, saved a couple of break points in my first service game, I felt good. I moved well. So, for a first match, considering how I was feeling five, six days ago, it was really positive.”
“There’s still time to get to 20 [double faults]!”
Murray sheds some light on his entertaining rain-delay chat with Bublik #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/h5oABWmaJq
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) 3. Juli 2017
“I played pretty good and moved quite well,” said Murray. “It’s not the easiest match to play because of the way he plays. There’s not loads of rhythm. He’s kind of doing different stuff on each point. I mean, he served some huge, huge serves on first and second serves. He was hitting some 130-mile-an-hour second serves, which you don’t really see much these days. But I hit the ball well. I don’t feel like I made too many unforced errors. I hit the ball pretty clean, got through a tough moment at the end of the second set, did pretty well.”
Murray marches on, and Dustin Brown, who owns two wins over former World No. 1s at Wimbledon, awaits the defending champion in the second round. The 32-year-old German rallied from a set and 3-5 deficit to knock out Joao Sousa of Portugal 3-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 in two hours.
Nadal Eases Past Millman
Two-time Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal opened his latest title bid with a milestone victory, beating Australia’s John Millman 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 in the second match on No. 1 Court. The 31-year-old Spaniard recorded his 850th Tour-level-match win in his 50th match at Wimbledon and became just the seventh player in history to reach the mark after Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl, Guillermo Vilas, John McEnroe and Andre Agassi.
“It was a very positive match for me, a good start… I am through to the second round. That’s a very important thing for me. And I happy because I didn’t win a lot of matches the last couple of years here in Wimbledon. Today I win one, and I am looking forward to play the second one,” told Nadal, who is next taking on Donald Young from the United States.
Medvedev Upsets Wawrinka
Fifth seed Stan Wawrinka lost his opening match to Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the third match on Centre Court. The Swiss, who has never progressed beyond the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and lost in the first round at SW19 on 5 previous occasions, was clearly struggling with injury. Medvedev, however, showed a solid performance, winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 after two hours and 13 minutes.
“A year ago I was ranked 250. If someone told me in one year I would win on Centre Court I would tell you you are joking,” Medvedev was happy afterwards.
Get to know Daniil Medvedev:
