Andy Murray led the way for men’s seeds at the Wimbledon Championships with the number-two seed facing and beating a fellow Brit for the first time ever at a grand slam on Tuesday.
Murray put out good friend and practise partner Liam Broady, the world number 235, winning 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.
Murray, seeded second and a top-title tip, never lost a serve during his one-and-three-quarter-hour victory as he begins the bid for a second home grand-slam title.
“The first round is always tricky, but I felt I played pretty well,’’ Murray said. “It’s not so easy playing someone you know.
“We were both just trying to win, you want to play a good match,’’ he added. “He [Broady] got better as the match went on, fighting through to the end and playing some good stuff.’’
Fourth-seed Stan Wawrinka tamed U.S., teenager Taylor Fritz 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4 as the Swiss who owns two grand slam titles works to surpass his Wimbledon best of a quarter-final.
The 31-year-old is playing his 12th-straight Wimbldon and 46th major in a row.
He will next take on Argentine dangerman Juan Del Potro, who beat Stephane Robert 6-1, 7-5, 6-0 for his first Wimbledon victory since 2013 due to wrist injury problems.
A seeded French pair advanced in straight sets, as number seven Richard Gasquet defeated Briton Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-4, 6-3, while 12th-seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga stopped Spaniard Inigo Cervantes 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.
Spanish 14th-seed Roberto Bautista Agut dispatched young Australian Jordan Thompson 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Controversial Aussie Nick Kyrgios got a code violation for swearing on his way to a 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (9-11), 6-1 defeat of Czech veteran Radek Stepanek.
German Dustin Brown, who knocked out Rafael Nadal a year ago, advanced over Serb Dusan Lajovic 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
In women’s play, Serena Williams held off a Swiss challenge from qualifier Amra Sadikovic, winning 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday to claim her 80th career victory at the event.
The top seed, who holds six titles at the grass-court grand slam, needed 73 minutes to overcome a Bosnian-born opponent who gave up tennis for more than a year when she grew disillusioned with a lack of progress on the WTA.
But the 27-year-old Sadikovic has rediscovered her love for the game and has been working her way back from zero ranking points ever since.
The 140th-ranked outsider put the defending champion on warning with early break points but was unable to carry through for an upset as Williams took control and never wavered.
“I never underestimate any opponent,’’ Williams said after running her record at the tournament to 80-10.
“It was a tough, good match, but not tougher than I thought it would be,’’ Williams said.
“I expect the best from every opponent. I got off to a fast start, which was good. It feels great to be back at Wimbledon.’’
U.S., open finalist Roberta Vinci, seeded sixth, beat grass-keen American Alison Riske 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.
Eastbourne champion Dominika Cibulkova continued her hot streak on grass as the Slovak beat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia 7-5, 6-3 to place into the second round. (dpa/NAN)
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