TENNIS: WIMBLEDON CHAMPIONSHIPS:FANS FASTENED their seat belts and did indeed face some mild turbulence in Andy Murray's opening match on Monday. He dropped the first set before playing towards a climax of 6-0, 6-0 for the third and fourth sets against Daniel Gimeno-Traver.
But as ever with the desperate, needy home crowd, they turn up every other day when Murray is playing, full of camaraderie and bonhomie. But it is their tennis curse that they never fail to see the Grim Reaper perched on top of the BBC broadcasting centre or in the eves of Centre Court. Murray did little for the national condition last Monday. He did nothing at all even though he’s the only known cure.
The first soft set on Monday and they started quoting names like Fred Perry, the man in white flannels and whose statue adorns the All England Club premises as well as the last Brit winner, and Tim Henman, the last Brit loser. Poor Henman, he seems stuck with that despite a fine career.
Yesterday, though, was different and while Murray’s hairstyle is increasingly looking like it was done by a family of sparrows from the hedge in his garden, there was an element of cruise control from the player from Dunblane.
Breaking with tradition the fans felt no need to scream out his name between points or clutch complete strangers sitting in the next seat. He settled nerves, soothed anxieties. Britain is okay for another two days.
There was no haste but Murray was forceful and miserly. There was a comfort about the way he played his big swinging game but within himself and still carved up the lively German Tobias Kamke, 6-3 6-3 7-5, the player who was voted the ATP Tour Newcomer for 2010. Last year the 25-year-old rocketed from a ranking of 254 to 67, meteoric by any standards.
He arrived with less stellar 2011 results, having won only 15 singles matches this year but with strong hopes that the ambience of Centre Court with the roof closed and a boozy evening crowd might draw out some of that impetuous 2010 form.
His problem was Murray, the fourth seed, was also asking questions of himself. Demanding that he “get his game right from the start” Murray gamely kept his word and his precision to Kamke’s vigour and want must have felt like a belly full of soul food for the weak of faith.
The match lasted just one hour and 57 minutes, a sprint by men’s first set standards. The first set took the 25-year-old just 30 minutes, the second 40 minutes and the third 47 minutes. For Murray it was a clean, clinical game although his after match statistics show he hit just one more unforced error that the German, hit less baseline winners and hit less winners. His total winners were 23 to Kamke’s 24 so where did he win the match?
Murray was able to threaten the serve of his opponent and also hit his economically. He earned two service break points in the first set, one in the second and one in the third. On the night it was plenty. That he was able to capitalise on half of those turned the game in his favour. Kamke won just one break point on the strong Murray serve that he could not convert.
“I didn’t think I played that well, but I didn’t get broken,” said the sometimes doleful Murray afterwards. “I served well, especially when I was behind in games. It was quite windy on the court which made it tricky, and I thought he hit the ball very well from the back of the court. Could have returned a little bit better. But straight sets, so I’ve got to be pleased with that. Got to improve for the next match.”
Murray faces Ivan Ljubcic in the next round. He was one of the coming players a few years ago but failed to penetrate the top echelon. Still, the unseeded player is a danger in the draw.
“He serves well,” said Murray. “That always makes it difficult. His best results are on grass, which is surprising for someone that serves like him. Yeah, so that obviously makes it tricky.
“Obviously, when you play against Roddick, sometimes you feel like once you get into rallies you know you can control him and dictate. But, you know, they can take some chances on your serve if they’re holding comfortably. That can put a bit of pressure on you. So I have to make sure I return well, which I did very well at Queen’s. I’ll need to do the same thing again on Friday.”
They will expect it. Murray has currency here. He is not Henman. Yesterday was not flawless more hopeful and confident to keep his name alive as a real contender.
Rafael Nadal also came through his match to please a crowd that like to see the main characters advance. Nadal had an extremely efficient win over Ryan Sweeting, even more efficient than Murray in a first week going well for both players.
He next takes on Gilles Muller, a man who beat him at Wimbledon in 2005. “Gilles is a very dangerous player. He has a very good serve, good volley. He’s especially a very dangerous player on this kind of surface,” said Nadal, who seems to have regained his confidence after winning the final at Roland Garros.
