Britain’s Andy Murray made a winning return to Centre Court after his Wimbledon final defeat as the world number four beat Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of the Olympics on Sunday.
Murray was back in action on the All England Club’s showpiece arena exactly three weeks after crying tears of frustration following his four-set defeat against Roger Federer in his maiden Wimbledon final.
The 25-year-old, who had hoped to become the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936, took a small step on the road to recovery from that heartbreaking defeat as he brushed aside Federer’s compatriot to set up a last 32 clash with Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen or India’s Somdev Devvarman.
Murray played the first full match under the Centre Court roof when he defeated Wawrinka in a five-set classic in the fourth round in 2009 and the pair had to duel indoors again after hail and rain forced the arena to be covered on Sunday.
The Scot had lost his first match since the Wimbledon final when he and brother Jamie were beaten in the doubles on Saturday.
But singles gold is Murray’s real aim and he looked back in the groove against Wawrinka.
After saving a break point in the opening game of the match, Murray went on the attack and, guiding a superb backhand winner down the line, he landed the crucial first break for a 5-3 lead before serving out the set in emphatic fashion.
Wawrinka won doubles gold with Federer in Beijing in 2008 and the Swiss great was in the players’ box to support his compatriot.
But Murray wasn’t in the mood to let another Swiss spoil his time on Centre Court and he easily finished off the world number 26 after breaking twice in the second set.
