Murray beats Gulbis in straight sets

Andy Murray took another step towards his treasured goal of a first grand slam title with a comfortable 6-2 7-5 6-3 second-round victory over Latvia's Ernests Gulbis at Wimbledon on Thursday.

Murray, aiming to be the first British men's winner since Fred Perry in 1936, cruised through the opener before a break in game 11 of the second helped him earn a two-set advantage.

The Scot sealed victory with a crunching forehand crosscourt winner after one hour and 28 minutes to the delight of a sun-drenched Centre Court crowd.

Murray told the BBC: "He had a couple of chances on my serve early on but didn't take them and I relaxed after that.

"I served the whole match great, I served really well, didn't give him many opportunities at all, used my slice backhand well - the variety was very good today - it's a lot better than my first match.

"It's a different kind of match, Kendrick was serve-volleying, playing very aggressive and he loves playing on grass so he didn't struggle with the slice backhand so much.

"Today I definitely served better, made more returns in the court. I felt very comfortable.

"If I serve like that for the rest of the tournament, I've got a good chance of doing well."

He will face either Serbia's Viktor Troicki or Spain's Daniel Gimeno Traver for a place in the fourth round.