The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsAndy Murray is safely through to the third round at Wimbledon as the world number two ruthlessly dispatched Yen-Hsun Lu 6-3 6-2 6-1. Lu made a blistering start to the match and held an early break in the first set, but once Murray recovered he thoroughly outclassed his opponent from then on to dominate the contest and eventually seal a comfortable win.
In the first set, it was Lu who made a scintillating start and his immaculate length on his groundstrokes saw him break Murray in the opening game and quickly establish a 2-0 lead. The world number two though settled in and eventually retrieved the break back after outlasting his opponent in a rally, before forging ahead 4-3. Lu seemed affected by the comeback from his opponent, and an error strewn game gifted the Brit another break to serve for the set. Despite his opponent’s late resistance, Murray stood firm to save a few break points and eventually closed out a scrappy set of tennis when Lu netted a backhand.
As the second set unfolded, Lu’s errant play continued and an early break was sealed for Murray when he returned a tentative overhead from his opponent with a spectacular cross court passing shot winner. Murray was forced to produce a sumptuous dropshot to save a break point at 3-2 up before extending his lead, and in the following game he seized the double break when Lu committed a double fault. The world number two had been too strong for his opponent on serve and soon enough he wrapped up the set emphatically with a forehand winner to take a two set lead.
In the third set, Murray upped the aggression early on and broke Lu in the first game after out-manoeuvring his opponent with deep penetrating shots. The Taiwanese player was simply unable to handle Murray’s heavy groundstrokes, and the Brit sealed another break when his opponent double faulted to surge to a commanding 4-0 lead. Murray continued his relentless onslaught, dismantling his opponent with such ease and cruising through his own service games. Lu managed to register one game but was too overpowered by the high quality tennis from Murray, and the Brit went on to claim the victory when Lu double-faulted to seal his place in the next round, where he will face John Millman.
As for the other Brits, Marcus Willis lost to Roger Federer whilst Johanna Konta was defeated by Eugenie Bouchard in a high quality three set encounter. Also, Tara Moore was knocked out in a deciding set by Svetlana Kuznetsova but Dan Evans continued his fine run with a 7-6 6-4 6-1 win over Alexandr Dolgopolov and he will face Federer in the third round.
Novak Djokovic also enjoyed a straight sets win, as Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic and Nick Kyrgios all progressed. But, there were a few notable upsets as Juan Martin Del Potro ousted Stan Wawrinka, with David Ferrer, Dominic Thiem and Gilles Simon all suffering defeats.
On the women’s side, Serena Williams avoided a shock exit in overcoming Christina McHale 6-7 6-2 6-4, as her sister Venus, Simona Halep, Madison Keys and Agnieszka Radwanska moved through to the third round. But, Belinda Bencic was forced to retire during her match with injury, as recently crowned French Open champion Garbine Muguruza became the most high profile casualty of the tournament so far with a surprising 6-3 6-2 loss to Jana Cepelova.
