By Ros Satar
Andy Murray def. Yen-Hsun Lu 6-3, 6-3, 7-5
On a day that will be more known for who did NOT get through or remain standing, Britain’s Andy Murray notched up another straight sets victory over his one-time Olympic vanquisher Yen-Hsun Lu.
In the midst of all manner of injuries, withdrawals and general black magic not often seen outside of Hogwarts, Murray fended off Lu, who at times put up a spirited defence.
Lu reminded everyone, early in the first set, of how he totally discombobulated an Olympically starstruck Murray in Beijing, but a lot has happened in that time – Slam Finals, an Olympic Gold and Silver Medal… oh an the US Open title.
That did not stop Lu from putting Murray under early pressure, forcing Murray to save three break points.
And that seemed to undo Lu, whose serving action disintegrated completely for the rest of the set.
Things did not go any better for him with an early break in the second and Murray was marching on while, quite literally, all around him were falling apart.
The third set was a lot more competitive, with Lu saving two match points but third time was the charm for Murray, who possibly will have raised an eyebrow at the rest of the shenanigans at SW19.
Elsewhere for Brits:
Colin Fleming/Jonathan Marray [9] def. Martin Klizan/Igor Zelenay
Colin Fleming had to overcome constant treatment for a side strain, but Marray was sharp as a tack to advance the ninth seeds into the second round, after they had some good runs on grass in the lead up to Wimbledon.
Dominic Inglot/Treat Huey [16] def. Roberto Bautista Agut/Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 6-4, 7-5
This now established Brit/Philippine pairing had a good run at Roland-Garros and got off to a good start today with a quick straight sets win.
Lisa Raymond/Laura Robson def. Francesca Schivone/Sam Stosur 6-3, 6-1
After a couple of early exits for this intriguing pairing, they put it right with a commanding win, off the back of Robson’s amazing win over 10th seed Maria Kirilenko.
Marinko Matosevic/Frank Moser def. David Rice/Sean Thornley 6-4, 6-3, 6-7(7), 4-6, 6-4
One of the great things about the early stages of Wimbledon is that occasionally there is a gem of a doubles match – and this five setter see-sawed to a thrilling conclusion to a tight five-setter that Rice and Thornley were unlucky to lose.
Cara Black/Marina Erakovic def. Heather Watson/Mervana Jugic/Salkic 6-2, 6-0
Heather Watson found herself facing her previously regular double spartner until her illness, Marina Erakovic.
Watson and her new partner Mervana Jugic-Salkic were up against Erakovic and Cara Black who are seeded 11th, and were pushed aside in two sets.
Watson will partner Jonny Marray in the Mixed Doubles.
David Marrero/Andreas Seppi def. Jamie Baker/Kyle Edmund 6-4, 7-5, 6-2
Oh and some other stuff happened:
In a quite remarkable day, some of the following were casualties of the green green grass of home, the others just lost!
Victoria Azarenka [2] – Withdrew before her match after failing to recover from her twist and fall in her opening match
Ana Ivanovic [12] – Beaten in straight sets by Canadian teen, Eugenie Bouchard
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga [6] – Retired with a knee injury during his second round match against Ernest Gulbis
Maria Sharapova was pretty much out-shrieked and also struggled with the same areas where Wozniacki slipped on the way to a straight sets defeat to Michelle Larcher De Brito.
Petra Kvitova [8] got a walkover as her draw opened up, when Yaroslava Shvedova withdrew before the match.
Jelena Jankovic [16] paid a heavy price for deciding to warm up between the conclusion of the clay court season at Roland-Garros on… clay. No grass practice equals a quick exit.
Caroline Wozniacki [9] also took a bit of a tumble on the lush grass, on her way to a straight sets defeat at the hands of Petra Cetkovska.
Lleyton Hewitt (always a favourite for the crowds and the ubiquitous Aussie fan club) was beaten by we-could-have-had-him German-Jamaican Dustin Brown.
Marin Cilic withdrew before his match with an injury.
Steve Darcis – conqueror of Rafael Nadal – had to withdraw before his match having failed to recover from the after effects of a fall in his first round match.
Bernard Tomic/Viktor Troicki retired from their doubles match – Troicki won his match today, but Tomic is due to play tomorrow.
John Isner injured himself in his own service game, and managed just one game more before having to retire.
Radek Stepanek retired with a hamstring injury.
Oh and finally – Roger Federer [3] failed to get past a serving and volleying Sergiy Stakhovsky who beat him in four sets.
Anyone for Traumatic Thursday?