Murray beats fellow Brit Broady, Serena scrapes past Sadikovic
By Martyn Herman
LONDON (Reuters) - Second seed Andy Murray showed no mercy to fellow Britain Liam Broady as he launched his Wimbledon challenge with a straightforward 6-2 6-3 6-4 victory on Tuesday.
The day after British qualifier Marcus Willis, the world number 772, made the front and back pages by reaching the second round, 235th-ranked Broady was given the Centre Court spotlight but played a subservient role as Murray gave a masterclass.
Murray, the 2013 champion, had not faced a fellow Britain in 56 previous Wimbledon matches while two home players had not squared off at the All England Club for 15 years.
Murray admitted beforehand that it had felt "weird" but it was business as usual once play began as he broke twice to pocket the opening set in 25 minutes.
Broady, still sporting the beard that caused a stir when he won a round last year, contributed to some eye-catching rallies but landed few telling blows as Murray raced away.
Casting his eye skywards as dark clouds closed in, Murray was keen to finish the match off and he did so with a cute drop-shot.
"He got better as the match went on," Murray told the BBC. "It was different, the atmosphere, but I just wanted to win."
Murray next faces Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan.
Defending champion Serena Williams stuttered to a low-key and error-strewn 6-2 6-4 first-round victory over Swiss qualifier Amra Sadikovic.