• Wimbledon, Day Two

Murray comfortably through despite slow start

Andy Murray played as well as he has for months © Getty Images

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Andy Murray recovered from a sluggish start to get his Wimbledon campaign up and running in impressive fashion against Jan Hajek.

The Brit's recent struggles looked set to continue as he failed to exert any authority over his opponent in the early stages, but he never looked back after finding his rhythm toward the end of the first set.

Murray now moves on to face Jarkko Nieminen or Stefan Koubek after romping to a 7-5 6-1 6-2 triumph in front of a capacity Court One crowd at the All England Club.

"The start of the match was tough, he was hitting the ball big and flat - it was a little bit unpredictable for me. But the second and third sets were good," Murray told BBC Sport.

After a turbulent run of form in recent months - Murray has not been past a quarter-final since January - the Scot would have been cheered when he learned who his first-round opponent was. Hajek was sent tumbling out at this stage on the only previous occasion that he has competed at the All England Club.

Nevertheless, there would have been some early nerves for Murray - particularly after he saw Roger Federer's monumental five-set struggle against the unheralded Alejandro Falla on the opening day of competition.

A break for Hajek in the third game of the match did nothing to quell Murray's unease; having suffered that early setback, he retreated and let the familiar gremlin of cautiousness creep into his game. The opportunities were there in rallies, but he lacked the conviction to take them as Hajek, who had raised his game for the big occasion, was not punished for the handful of errors he made.

As the first set wore on, Murray began to find his rhythm and turn the screw on his opponent. After passing up three break points in the eighth game, he finally managed to score with one - and from that point onward, the shackles came off and he looked galvanised. Playing with markedly more aggression, particularly against the second serve, he took the opener with the first set point he was offered.

The world No. 4 powered into a 4-0 lead at the start of the second set, with his game purring and the groundstrokes no longer tentative. After conceding a second break, Hajek's game was on the brink of implosion - his shoots looped harmlessly into hittable zones for Murray, who was making no mistake by this stage.

The second set was as good as any Murray has produced since his run to the Australian Open final in January - 12 winners, six aces, claiming over 70% of the points on serve - and, especially after Hajek required treatment before the third set, he looked to be on a relentless march towards victory.

At two breaks and 4-1 up in the third, any lingering doubts about Murray's chances of defeat had evaporated - he went on to close out the victory with the minimum of fuss.

Elsewhere, Jamie Baker made it just one British male remaining in the men's singles draw after he lost - despite battling valiantly - 7-6 6-3 6-4 to Andreas Beck.

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