It could not have gone much better for Andy Murray, could it?
Day Two at the All England Club belonged to the two-time Wimbledon champion.
Tuesday also saw rain. And more rain. It also saw two of the big favourites advance to round two, even if one was decidedly off-colour.
So what will day three have in store?
Statement win for Murray
Murray’s all-British clash with Ryan Peniston on Centre Court was supposed to be nervy.
Many dubbed it the acid test for the Scot after his early exit from Queen’s club.
Some decried his recent victories at Challenger events Surbiton and Nottingham.
But he proved them all wrong with a stunning performance to sweep aside the 27-year-old wildcard 6-3 6-0 6-1.
The Scot started a little slowly but soon got into his stride, moving with more comfort than we’ve seen in his days post-hip surgery.
There will be far greater tests ahead, and in swift fashion also as fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem await.
Shining bright on Centre Court 🌟#Wimbledon | @andy_murray pic.twitter.com/0r2VmCJJqA
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 4, 2023
Alcaraz shines; Rybakina off-colour
Court One witnessed a similarly one-sided affair in the men’s first round as arguably the biggest challenge to Novak Djokovic’s monopoly started with a bang.
Carlos Alcaraz, 20, hammered the retiring Jeremy Chardy, 6-0 6-2 7-5 to book his spot in the second round.
One suspects he will be going much further than that, based on this evidence and his confident interview afterwards.
“It’s really beautiful to play here and I’m really happy to have a lot of people supporting me,” said the popular Spaniard.
Another fan favourite, defending women’s champion Elena Rybakina, survived a scare but bounced back from a first-set deficit against Shelby Rogers.
As the Kazak continues to battle the effects of a virus, Rybakina looked a little peaky as the American looked to take advantage.
There would have been major jitters after that 4-6 opening set, but the champ recovered, asserting her authority to cruise 6-1, 6-2 in the following two.
Carlos Alcaraz on Roger Federer attending Elena Rybakina’s match at Wimbledon:
“I saw that Roger Federer was here. I was a little bit jealous.😂 Honestly, I want Roger to watch one of my matches. I hope to talk a bit with him. I hope to see him around more than once” pic.twitter.com/9ZLrTNJU0z
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) July 4, 2023
Wimbledon betting odds, day three
The inclement weather over the past two days means we’re playing catch up at SW19.
Tsitsipas-Thiem resumes on Court Two today, with the Swiss a set up but Tsitsipas leading 4-3 in the second.
British hopes rest on Heather Watson, who takes on tournament dark horse Barbora Krejcikova.
The home crowd will also have 20-year-old Arthur Fery to get behind, however taking on the daunting prospect of Daniil Medvedev, the Briton is up against it to say the very least.
Meanwhile, Londoner George Loffhagen will resume against sixth seed Norwegian Holger Rune, having narrowly lost the first set on a breaker.
Our best bet of the day is on former finalist Milos Raonic.
Evens to beat Dennis Novak in their First round clash on Court 16 today.
The Canadian, now 32, is a grass court specialist and some 250/1 to win the whole tournament, but he should be good for the victory.
