Andy Murray got his grass-court season underway with a strong win.
On a blustery afternoon in Surrey’s stockbroker belt, Andy Murray launched his grass-court season with a taste of the Good Life. Easing to a 6-2, 6-1 in 57 minutes win over left-hander Jirij Rodionov in the Surbiton Trophy, Muzza found enough venom in his serve and groundstrokes to suggest he is not yet ready for superannuation.
The three-time Grand Slam winner has developed a more audible grunt – or at least that’s how it sounded – since renewing his alliance with coach Ivan Lendl. But never mind the soundtrack, admire the athlete while you can.
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Surbiton is best known, to viewers of a certain age, as the setting for 70s sitcom The Good Life, where Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal quit the rat race and turn a four-bedroomed detached home into a suburban farmstead.
Murray was never likely to turn the Surbiton Rackets and Fitness Club into a vegetable patch or to leave a goat called Geraldine to graze on the outside courts. But his game was in decent working order, and the 300 or so spectators – including Chelsea footballer Ruben Loftus-Cheek – appreciated him making short work of world No 127 Rodionov.
The first set was over in 28 minutes, with Murray claiming 92 per cent of points on his first serve and the Austrian powerless to stem the cocktail of drop shots and rasping winners down the tramlines. If the second set was more rapid, the Last King of Scotland just did enough to beat the showers drifting in off the A3.
After play was held up two hours by rain, His Lordship of Dunblane had to wait until 4.30pm to test his footwork on a potentially greasy surface. He needn’t have worried – Murray skipped across the lawn with the assurance of Fred Astaire and he wielded his racquet with the flourish of Zorro.