A little over an hour of his first-round match had gone and Andy Murray was starting to accelerate away from Ryan Peniston when a man’s voice rang out from under the Centre Court roof. ‘Come on, Roger,’ the fan shouted. The crowd tittered.
In the front row of the Royal Box, Roger Federer, who was sitting between the Princess of Wales and his wife, Mirka, after being given a guard of honour to mark his first return to the All England Club since his retirement, smiled regally.
Life after tennis seems to be treating Federer well. Earlier, he had strolled through the grounds of the club, resplendent in his cream suit and striped shirt, adored by all. Murray could have that life if he wanted to but he is not ready for it quite yet.
The echoes of yesteryear are all around him now as many that he once counted as his competitors fall away and younger men replace them but Murray is still standing, still talking up his chances of going deep into this tournament.
Perhaps we are just suspending our disbelief, but when Murray talks about feeling better and more optimistic about this tournament than he has done for five years then it is natural that memories of his past triumphs float back on the breeze.
Andy Murray booked his place in the second round at Wimbledon after a win on Centre Court
The British star cruised to a straight-sets victory over compatriot Ryan Peniston on Tuesday
Murray, 36, will face Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem in round two. Their match, which was scheduled for Number 2 Court, was delayed by the heavy rain that deluged south west London yesterday with Thiem a set up.
Whoever comes through it, that second round match with Murray already feels as if it is going to be an epic. Murray is more than capable of winning it but how many times his metal hip will allow him to go back to the well as the tournament wears on is the question that haunts him.
Murray brings an old gunslinger mood with him on to the court these days
He brings an old gunslinger mood with him on to the court these days. Think William Munny in Unforgiven. There’s something grim about his energy but the brilliance is still there and the indomitability is still there and Peniston had no answer to either. The kid never had a chance.
We’re in late-career Jimmy Connors territory with Murray now. The American great had a glorious, emotional autumn to his career and reached the semi-finals of the 1991 US Open at the age of 39. Murray is made of the same kind of defiance as Connors.
Maybe he still has a run like that left in him. If he does, what a story it would be, the kind that would make Federer want to change out of that suit and put his tennis whites on to feel the thrill of competition once more.
Murray, who won two men’s singles titles here in 2013 and 2016, began his 15th Wimbledon with one of his most convincing wins, by dispatching his fellow Briton 6-3, 6-0, 6-1, a result he has only bettered once in SW19, when he beat Blaz Rola 6-1, 6-1, 6-0 in the second round nine years ago.
He was not wholly convincing in the early stages, fighting off break points in successive service games in the first set and hitting a string of unforced errors off his forehand into the net as Peniston, a wildcard entry who is ranked 268th in the world, tried to force an early lead.
But Murray got better and better and more and more dominant the longer the match went on. Even in those moments of relative uncertainty in the first set, there was always a sense Murray would step up when he needed to.
Murray, who shook hands with Peniston after the victory, will now face either Dominic Thiem or Stefanos Tsitsipas in the next round
The Princess of Wales and Roger Federer were both in attendance for Murray’s display
So while Peniston wasted two break points, floating a service return long on the first and being outlasted by Murray in a long rally on the second, Murray got one chance to break and took it. And then the game changed.
Murray may be older, his body may be creaking, but he is still a magnificent returner of the ball and his powers of retrieval were still too good for Peniston, who is nine years his junior.
Once, during the first set, Murray scurried up and down the baseline as Peniston tried to close out the point, refusing to concede. Eventually, Murray hoisted a steepling lob back into court, Peniston let it bounce and then smashed it into the foot of the net.
Once Murray had won the first set and settled into the match, Peniston was overwhelmed by his power and quality. Murray moved up through the gears and closed the match out in a minute over two hours.
When he was interviewed on the court after the match, Murray said he had seen some ‘good signs’ during his victory over Peniston. ‘I’m fit and ready for a good run,’ he said before he was asked how he had felt about being watched by Federer.
‘It was good to see tennis royalty here today,’ Murray said. Federer smiled regally again from on high but Murray has one thing that Federer does not: he is still in the game, still fighting, still competing, still hoping, still dreaming.
He will get his chance to sit in the Royal Box one day. Just not yet.
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