MURRAY SERVES SPECIAL TREAT

Andy uses under-arm tactic to outfox Aussie Duckworth

ANDY MURRAY hit a first under-arm serve at Wimbledon on his way to another late thriller under the Centre Court roof.

The Scot, whose plans were disrupted by a side strain, lost the first set to Aussie world No.74 James Duckworth.

But urged on by his home crowd, Murray roared back to win 4-6

6-3 6-2 6-4 in two hours and 43 minutes.

He let out a roar of emotion at the end of a predictably unpredictable clash.

And the double Olympic champ also created a personal bit of SW19 history by serving underarm (above) in the fourth game of the third set – and winning the point.

The former world No.1 first used the cheeky tactic against Carlos Alcaraz in

Indian Wells last October. It is often used by Murray’s mate Nick Kyrgios when the receiver is serving far behind the baseline – or to get into the head of your opponent.

But last night he did it when the light was fading and Duckworth was complaining about the gloom.

Murray, 35, said: “It was amazing to be back here in front of a full crowd after last year. It was an amazing atmosphere.

“I am getting on a bit now. I don’t know how many opportunities I will get here so I want to make the most of it every time..

“There are always butterflies and stress before the first round and I had a longer build-up because of the abs injury in Stuttgart.” This match did not start until 6.44pm – following Novak Djokovic and Emma Raducanu – and Murray took even longer to get going.

It was the 30-year-old from Down Under who moved and served better in the first set as he twice broke Murray.

But when Duckworth pushed another big forehand into the tramlines on breakpoint down at 2-3 in the second set, Murray went on to level the match.

An early break in the third set was followed by the Murray underarm serve at 2-1, 15-0 when Duckworth’s poor attempted overhead allowed his rival to put away a winner.

The Aussie was also not happy about the light and at 4-1 down, complained: “I am struggling to see.”

Play was paused at the end of the third set for the roof to fully close and Duckworth regrouped.

But at 4-4, he served a double fault on break point and Murray took his first match point in bizarre fashion when his first serve was belatedly called out and Duckworth failed with a challenge on the second serve.

He will next face exSW19 semi-finalist John Isner after the giant American world No.24 beat French qualifier Enzo Couacaud 6-7 7-6 4-6 6-3 7-5.