Murray in a hurry to see off Lu
No Brexit as Andy races the rain
ANdY MurrAY’s immediate post-match duties yesterday involved walking off the Centre Court and straight to an introduction with the duchess of Cornwall.
He was then whisked to the snap interview on national television where, still sweating profusely, he was asked if he feels the burden of trying to lift the spirits of our presently disunited kingdom.
so no pressure, then, for him at Wimbledon and no great surprise that he restricted himself to the anodyne response that he had not really thought about it.
Experience has taught Murray to be very careful about what he says on current affairs, never more so than during this fortnight.
He avoided a question on constitutional matters but later he was happy to reflect on what it is like to be the focus of the nation’s sporting attention. ‘I don’t think it changes anything in my mind,’ he said.
‘I’ve played here a number of times when there’s been big competitions going on elsewhere in different sports, sometimes when some of the other Brits have made deep runs here as well. But it makes absolutely zero difference to me anyway, how I perform and how I play.
‘When the attention’s been on me a lot, I’ve played well. When it hasn’t, I’ve also played well.’
Murray had just completed the task of seeing off the most prolific player on grass in the past month, putting Yen Hsun Lu out to pasture with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 victory. It was the kind of display that will excite thoughts that he might provide a pleasant diversion for the population away from events playing out elsewhere. And it came against the right opponent too.
Three years ago, en route to lifting the Wimbledon title, Murray beat this son of a Taipei chicken breeder at exactly the same stage of the tournament.
He made harder work of it then, the three sets required being more arduous than those that were needed yesterday.
In the third round the 29-year-old scot faces Australian John Millman, the World No 67 who has made a habit of beating British players in his rise up the rankings, but never the national No 1.
Murray won their only previous meeting 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 at the Brisbane International in January 2013.
If Murray gets through it, and you would assume he will, then there could be a fascinating last-16 clash on Monday against Millman’s firecracker of a compatriot, Nick Kyrgios.
World No 2 Murray is under strict orders from Ivan Lendl not to replicate what happened in Paris, where he spent nearly seven-and-ahalf hours getting through the first two rounds.
so this was mission accomplished on that front, especially as rain threatened at the end.
‘When the rain is coming you are anxious to get off,’ he said.
‘It was starting to look a bit dark but thankfully I had a good lead at that stage.
‘The first set was tough. There were a lot of close games, I managed to hang on at the end of the first and then settled down towards the end of the second and was hitting the ball much better in the third and feeling more comfortable. If you can win easily then it does help and mentally the day is not as draining. It’s been a good start here.
‘I will just try and do my best — work hard, keep my head down and hopefully have a good tournament.’
By the time Murray walked on court Marcus Willis was on his way up to Warwick to play a club match, having vacated the Centre Court less than 24 hours previously.
The British No 23 had turned down an offer to be flown to America for a national network appearance on NBC, so the demands on the British No 1 are all relative.
Lu came into this match having torn through the British grass court Challenger circuit, winning 15 out of 16 matches up and down the country, including one at Wimbledon.
He started off like a man who could barely remember what it is like to lose, tearing into the Murray serve and breaking in the opening game.
The world No 76 did not miss a ball at the start but then suddenly seemed to realise that he was on the Centre Court and not at the Ilkley Challenger in Yorkshire, which he had won two weeks ago.
Murray broke back when Lu poked a dropshot wide and then reeled off the next seven games, although there was a sticky moment when he needed to save two break points while serving for the first set.
His computer-like brain told him that Lu moved better across the baseline than coming forward, so he brought his opponent forward with some exquisite dropshots, including one that saved break point at 3-2 in the second.
Thereafter it was exhibition stuff and a smooth progression. Inside the Wimbledon bubble, this might turn out to be Murray’s quietest first week here for a long time.