Murray puts on a royal show
ANDY MURRAY put on a regal show in front of the Queen to cruise into the third round at Wimbledon yesterday.
The British No1 delivered a well-rehearsed bow to Her Majesty, who was visiting the All England Club for the first time in 33 years.
And he gave her a performance to remember as he swept to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen in one hour, 42 minutes.
The 23-year-old Scot now takes on Frenchman Gilles Simon on Saturday after the 26th seed who was awarded a walkover after his second round opponent withdrew.
Murray brought a cheer from the Centre Court crowd before a ball had even been hit as he and Nieminen strode out together before stopping and turning at the service line to bow gracefully in towards the royal box.
From then on he let his tennis do the work as he recovered from a shaky opening service game, where he saved four break points, to break Nieminen immediately and eventually wrap up the set in 36 minutes.
Nieminen, 28, had been as high as 13 in the world rankings, but had no answer to
Murray’s aggressive game as he blasted down winner after winner in, arguably, his best
performance of the year.
“Obviously it was quite a big occasion but you try to prepare for it the same as every match,” he admitted. “And once you do get into the tournament, you do tend to have a routine you stick to. I just tried to go along with that.
“There were not many extra nerves. I’m sure everyone thought it was a great occasion. I don’t know whether she [the Queen] will be coming in the next few years, but I definitely enjoyed it.”