HE is convinced the roof on Centre Court is leaking.

He was disturbed and confused by the flickering of the Olympic scoreboard. He slipped in the first game, prompting the first Andy Murray injury scare of the Olympic Games. If all this points to a tennis star in turmoil, then it is the most erroneous of impressions. The 25-year-old Scot yesterday breezed through his match with Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, 6-3, 6-3, in 90 minutes and reflected on a character-building period since he last stepped on Centre Court.

This was, of course, all of three weeks ago when he lost in four sets to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final, with the denouement taking place under the roof on Centre Court. Yesterday Federer was in the box supporting his countryman Wawrinka, and the roof was back on, but Murray ended the afternoon with a smile rather than tears.

Disappointment at Wimbledon in this Olympic campaign has already been suffered by Murray and his brother Jamie, with the pair going out of the doubles on Saturday night, beaten by the Austrians Jurgen Melzer and Alexander Peya 5-7 7-6 (6) 7-5. The world No.4, though, has a focus that has been sharpened by his experience since his defeat by Federer and by a personal realisation of the importance of the Olympics. Murray, in short, believes he has grown up.

Wawrinka knew what to expect when he faced the Scot. He has now played against his friend 11 times, with Murray leading 7-4, including a victory in the first full match played under the roof at Wimbledon in 2009. But he also last week had a foretaste of Murray's potency in a series of hitting sessions. "I practised against Stan a few times and played really well against him," said Murray. "That gave me a bit of extra confidence going into the match today."

Murray won the match handily, with the only alarms being the flickering of a screen in the first service game that distracted the Scot and one heavy fall from which he emerged unscathed. He was also a bit worried about the roof. "There were a few drips coming in," he said. "There were drips next to my bag for pretty much the whole match. There's a bit of a leak. They might need to sort that out."

This was all said with a smile that testifies to a sunnier Murray in the public domain. He believes the Wimbledon final was a turning point in his relationship with the wider world. The roars of support yesterday were evidence of that. More importantly, he is convinced he has changed.

He said the support after the final had been "different" and "overwhelming".

"I'm not used to that," he said. "I understand that sometimes in the past it wasn't always that easy to get behind me because on the court I didn't look particularly happy. But during Wimbledon I just felt different on the court. I felt like I had grown up a bit. I felt more mature. I felt my demeanour was better."

The support after the final has given him more confidence and prompted him to abandon plans for a holiday and return almost immediately to training. "I wanted to get back on the practice court right away, back in the gym, get myself ready for this tournament, because I want to do my best. I want to achieve everything I can. The only way of doing that is by giving 100%. The support I received has made a big difference."

Murray's first outing as a singles player since the Federer defeat was encouraging. He put the Wawrinka serve under pressure, waited for the Swiss player to make mistakes and cruised through a match that had the potential to be more than tricky. Federer watched from the player's box and Murray paid a generous tribute to the player who made him cry.

"It is the first time I have played in front of Roger, apart from when I have been on the other side of the net from him. When someone like Rod Laver or Pete Sampras, Bjorn Borg, those sort of guys are watching you, it makes it a bit more of an occasion, makes it a little bit more special. And as a tennis player, I have a huge amount of respect for what Roger has been able to do. It was nice having him come to watch."

Murray, who plays Jarkko Nieminen of Finland in the next round, is desperate to win in London, not least because he feels he let himself down in Beijing four years ago when he lost to Lu Yen-hsun just a week after defeating Novak Djokovic in a Masters final in Cincinnati.

"I was disappointed with the way I played in Beijing. I didn't understand what the Olympics meant to me, it was my first time there and I was so excited to be there. I went to the opening ceremony and I was trying to watch other sports because I had never experienced it before, and maybe didn't focus as hard on myself and my event," he said. "That's what I have done differently this time. I know how much that loss hurt me and I wanted to come here best prepared as I could be and today was a good start."

"I'm really up for the tournament. I'm going to give it my best shot," he added.