• Wimbledon

Nerves no problem as Murray gets off to flyer

June 23, 2014

Andy Murray said he overcame nerves on his return to Centre Court as he powered past David Goffin in the first round of his Wimbledon title defence.

Murray, who last year became the first British man to win a Wimbledon singles title in 77 years, dismissed Goffin in straight sets 6-1 6-4 7-5 as he opened the tournament on SW19's prestige court.

"I was nervous this morning and I was nervous yesterday," Murray said. "But walking to the court brought back a lot of good memories and then it was nice coming out to a full crowd for the first match.

"Once you sit down in the chair it's time to get ready for this year and move on from last year, and try to play my best.

"I thought it was a very high standard of match. [Goffin] was maybe a little bit nervous at the beginning but the second and third sets, the level was very high.

"He came up with some unbelievable passing shots and I was glad to finish it in three because he was playing very well.

"Sometimes you can win in three sets and not play very well - it can be a bit of a scrappy match. But in terms of the way I struck the ball today, it was a good start."

Watched by new coach Amelie Mauresmo, Murray took the first set in just 29 minutes as Goffin was left in the starting blocks. Both players at times lost their footing on the lush Centre Court grass, but Murray dominated with his first serve and was too strong for his Belgian opponent.

Goffin put up more of a fight in the second set as the pair tussled for almost three-quarters of an hour, Murray securing the only break in the set's third game.

The third set was a different story as Goffin dug in to give No.3 seed Murray the first test of his title defence, forcing the Scot to 11 games before he secured the break he needed to set himself up for victory.

Murray will next face Blaz Rola in the second round after the Slovenian overcame Spain's Pablo Anduja 6-1 6-3 6-4.

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