The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and Opinions
Andy Murray is through to the second round of Wimbledon as he opened the defence of his title with a comfortable 6-1 6-4 6-2 win over Alexander Bublik.
The Brit overcame a nervous start to dominate as he easily took the opener and led with an early break in the second set. Even though his opponent did display some fearless hitting at times and even held chances to break back down 5-4, the world number one was overall too strong and held him off to establish a two set lead. Murray raced through the third set despite some rain interruptions and sealed victory to book his place in the second round against the potentially dangerous Dustin Brown.
As for the other Brits, Kyle Edmund won his all British encounter against Alex Ward while Aljaz Bedene survived a marathon against Ivo Karlovic to record a 6-7 7-6 6-7 7-6 8-6 victory. Heather Watson also progressed and Johanna Konta exacted a measure of revenge against her French Open conqueror Hsieh Su-Wei with a 6-2 6-2 win, but Laura Robson, Cameron Norrie and Noami Broady fell to first round defeats.
Meanwhile in the other selected men’s matches, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer both benefitted from retirements during their respective matches to go through, while Rafael Nadal and Marin Cilic made smooth progress. However, Nick Kyrgios was forced to pull out during his opening match against Pierre Hugues Herbert, and Daniil Medvedev provided the tournament’s early upset with a stunning 6-4 3-6 6-4 6-1 win over the recent French Open finalist Stan Wawrinka.
On the women’s side, Angelique Kerber, Petra Kvitova, Venus Williams and Simona Halep won their first round matches in straight sets, as Garbine Muguruza and Agnieszka Radwanska also joined them in round two. Elina Svitolina was made to work for her 7-5 7-6 victory over Ashleigh Barty and Victoria Azarenka went through in three sets, while Karolina Pliskova saw off Evgeniya Rodina 6-1 6-4.
