Wimbledon, July 5: On a day filled with far more rain drops than drop shots at Wimbledon – light, but persistent, showers prevented the completion, or even start, of dozens of matches – Roger Federer and Andy Murray provided the highlights.
The retired Federer, who won a men’s-record eight of his 20 Grand Slam titles at the All England Club, was in the front row of the Royal Box, where he sat next to Kate, the Princess of Wales. Federer was saluted with a 1 1/2-minute standing ovation during a pre-match tribute to his career at Centre Court on Tuesday. Hours later, Murray was down below, competing.
Murray won two of his three Grand Slam titles and one of his two Olympic gold medals on that rather famous patch of grass and – even if those triumphs were long ago; even if he is now 36 with an artificial hip – the locals fondly remember those good times, especially his 2013 championship that made him the first British man in 77 years to win the event. They hope for an attention-grabbing show this fortnight, so Murray got most of the full-throated support that reverberated under the closed roof of the main stadium during a 6-3 6-0 6-1 victory over wild-card entry Ryan Peniston in an all-Brit first-round match.
“It was amazing to have some royalty here, but also some tennis royalty, as well,” Murray said during his on-court interview, as Kate and Federer looked on. “It’s amazing to have Roger here, supporting the event,” Murray said. “Last time I was on this court, and he was watching, was during the (2012) Olympics, and he sat in (Swiss countryman) Stan Wawrinka’s box and was supporting against me. So it was nice to see a couple of claps today after some good shots.”
When the interviewer looked toward the guest of honor to ask, “Roger, you approve of today’s performance?” Federer responded with a thumbs-up. Peniston’s assessment of Murray: “He was just relentless on every point.” Murray sounded pleased as well after claiming all 11 of his service games, breaking four times and going 17-for-17 at the net. “I played some good stuff as the match went on. There were some good signs there,” he said. (PTI)
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