It was better not to miss. After deciding to skip the clay season (apart from an appearance in Madrid) to put the odds on his side for the grass, Andy Murray therefore appeared at the most important meeting of his season, Wimbledon. On Monday, he made a successful entry by beating Australian James Duckworth, 74th in the world (4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4).
And there were, especially at the start of the match when the pressure held his arm back and he couldn’t read his Australian opponent’s serve. But once his two problems were solved, as he admitted after the match, Murray moved on. Of course, we saw him berate himself after all the points he missed, we even saw him underhand serve in the second set. Not enough to bring a smile to the face of his coach Ivan Lendl, more impassive than ever, but the public was delighted.
Once back to a set everywhere, Murray will above all have shown great solidity by not having to defend any break point during the last three sets. Duckworth ended up having only his courage left to oppose Murray’s science of grass game. Qualified for the second round, Murray will face John Isner and his formidable serve (54 aces against Enzo Couacaud).