wimbledon Murray storms through despite first-set wobble.
THE rain stopped almost all play, it closed Murray Mound, but Andy Murray flourished under the roof of the Centre Court last night. The 24-year-old Scot defeated Daniel Gimeno-Traver, the 25-year-old Spaniard, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 in two hours, eight minutes to move through to the second round of Wimbledon.
Murray regretted that his fans outside the court could not watch on the big screens as Murray Mound was closed down for health and safety reasons in the driving rain. Asked if he was disappointed, the world No.4 said: “It is disappointing for the fans.” He said he was sure organisers would find a way to screen matches when the weather intervenes in the future.
Murray also revealed he had been tested for drugs three times this month already, the last occasion being at 7am at his home in Surrey. The Scot was tested after the French Open, after his defeat in the doubles at Queen’s and was not surprised when the door bell rang last Thursday morning.
“It’s just a bit annoying because it was my day off and I was looking for a lie in. I was fast asleep,” he said. “But the thing is, as soon as the bell from the house went, I woke up. Took like 10 seconds. Looked at my clock and it was bang on 7:00. It was like, I knew it was them.”
His reaction was philosophical. “It’s just part of the job,” he insisted. His mother, Judy, made the testers a cup of tea. The victory last night keeps Murray on track to win his first major and he has been inspired by the example of Rory McIlroy who lifted his first grand slam trophy at the weekend when he strode away with the US Open.
The Scot, who has lost in three grand-slam finals, was delighted at the way the Northern Irishman came back from his disappointment of failing to win the Masters after leading by four shots on the final day. “The way he dealt with everything was fantastic. He’s going to go on to be one of the best golfers that we’ve seen.”
Murray was also pleased at his personal reactions after he lost the first set. The Scot did not lose his cool and went on to win 15 consecutive games to win the match.
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