Murray flies flag for Britain at Wimbledon
On a day when Anne Keothavong found a way to lose after holding a 4-0 lead in the third set of her opening match at Wimbledon, Andy Murray has notched a straightforward victory against Jan Hajek in the first round.
Murray, who arrived at the All England Club in the familiar position of being the only realistic chance that Britain has of claiming the Wimbledon crown this year, defeated the world No. 80 in straight sets
After being broken early in the opening set, Murray bounced back with a vengeance breaking the Czech twice on his way to taking the set 7-5 and then reeling off the first five games of the second set before Hajek held serve to force the Scot to serve for a 2-0 lead in the match, which the fourth seed duly did.
Murray maintained the advantage with yet another break of serve in the opening game of the third as he hit cruise control and headed towards the second round with a 7-5, 6-1, 6-2 victory serving 17 aces and smacking 39 winners along the way.
Earlier in the day, Keothavong had crumbled in the deciding set of her first round match against Australia’s Anastasia Rodionova. After securing the first two breaks of the set, the Briton lost the final six games of the match to join the likes of Elena Baltacha on the sidelines after the opening two days play.
“I think nerves just got the better of me, to be honest,” Keothavong offered by way of explanation after the match. “I really fought my heart out out there. You know, she held her nerve better than I did. She's the one who walks off the court with a win.”
While Keothavong and Baltacha’s losses from winning positions will inevitably raise questions about the ability of British players to handle the pressure, Murray once again remains the only hope the home fans have of seeing a local in the second week of the action at the grass court Grand Slam.
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