Wimbledon: Andy Murray means business with straight sets victory against fellow Brit Liam Broady

Andy Murray beats Liam Broady 6-2 6-3 6-4 in opening match at Wimbledon

Andy Murray celebrates on Centre Court after getting off to a winning start (Getty)

Andy Murray’s timing is usually immaculate and the world No 2 could hardly have bettered it as he completed a 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 first-round victory here over Liam Broady. Within minutes of the two Britons walking off Centre Court, the covers were being pulled across the grass as rain started to fall. Thanks to the sliding roof two more matches were played, but on every other court that was it for the day.

Given his experiences at the recent French Open, where he may have eventually paid a price for being drawn into long five-set matches in the first two rounds, Murray was pleased to have been more efficient here. He usually is: this was his fifth successive straight-sets win in the first round at the All England Club.

“At any tournament it's important, when you have a chance to win a match quickly, to do it,” Murray said after earning a second-round meeting with Taiwan’s Yen-Hsun Lu. “It's not always that easy. Sometimes your opponents can play very well, and sometimes you're struggling a little bit, but when you have the opportunity in matches to finish them, you have to try and be ruthless. I’m happy today I got done in three sets.”

This was the first all-British meeting in the men’s singles at a Grand Slam tournament since Tim Henman beat Greg Rusedski in the first round of the US Open 10 years ago. It was the first at Wimbledon since 2001, when Henman beat Martin Lee in the second round and Barry Cowan beat Mark Hilton in the first.

Murray, remarkably, had never faced a fellow Briton on home soil until he played Aljaz Bedene and Kyle Edmund in successive rounds in the Aegon Championships at Queen’s Club earlier this month.

Broady, who spends most of his life on the Challenger tour, had his moments, especially in the latter stages, but the gap in class between the two men was evident from the start. Most aspects of Murray’s game looked in fine shape.

The Scot was pleased with his form. “I hit the ball pretty clean,” he said. “I think offensively was good. I felt like I could have moved a little bit better and I didn't defend as well as usual, but I served well. That was pleasing. I got a lot of free points on my serve. I served a pretty high percentage. Especially in the first two sets, I didn't give him many chances on my serve. When I was in difficult situations, I served well.”

Broady is the world No 235, but the 22-year-old from Stockport is no stranger to these parts. A former boys’ singles runner-up and boys’ doubles champion, he won his first match in the senior event last year when he beat Marinko Matosevic.

However, taking on the world No 2 on Centre Court was a very different proposition. While Broady made a tentative start, Murray was on his game immediately. He broke serve at the first attempt and went on to take the opening set in just 25 minutes. Half an hour later the second set was also in the bag.

Twelve months ago Broady came back from two sets down to beat Matosevic, but there was to be no repeat here as Murray broke in the opening game of the third set with a volley winner. However, Broady did not go down without a fight. Murray had to recover from 0-30 down when he served at 1-2 and from 15-40 two games later.

Nevertheless, whenever the Scot got into even a hint of trouble, you always sensed that he had something in reserve. He served out for victory in some style, a thumping forehand to the corner setting up the chance to play a deft drop-volley winner.

Broady was surprised that he had not felt more nervous. “I felt at home from the start,” he said. “I didn't play like I was at home from the start, but I certainly felt like it. I think the longer the match went on, the more I focused on the tennis and stopped remembering where I was. By the end of the second and most of the third, it was just a match against another guy.”

He added: “The more I played, the more comfortable I got with it, the better I played. I started to hit my forehand better, started to get more free points off that. I started to serve better. Obviously Andy is the second best player in the world, and on his day, the best player in the world. That's why he won in straight sets.”

What had Murray said to him at the end? “We shook hands and he said: ‘Good fight, well played.’ I said the same to him. He’s a great guy. I do like him a lot. It's not nice having to play him. At the end we were walking off the court and he asked me if I enjoyed it. I was like: ‘Yeah, of course I did.’ I played Andy Murray on Centre Court. What can't I enjoy? Obviously, I didn't enjoy the losing part, but it was a great experience.”

Broady said that the match had helped to prove to him that the top players are not “superhuman”. He added: “Marcus Willis has proved this as well. There are hundreds of guys across the world that hit the ball pretty similar. It's just what you do with it at what times.

The Scot was barely tested at SW19 (Getty)

“I don't feel like I was completely outplayed today. I don't feel like I was completely over-awed.”

Asked for his verdict on Broady, Murray said: “There are definitely things he can improve. He moves well. He's a good ball striker. I think in the last couple of years his technique has been a bit more consistent. He made quite a bit of changes to his technique at the end of his teenage years and early twenties. It's kind of important for him to stick with what he's got, to try and work it out.

Murray added: “If he could get a little bit more pace on his serve, obviously it would help him. Being a leftie, you don't have to serve as hard with the right handers, because with the leftie spin, it makes things a bit more tricky.”

Lu, Murray’s next opponent, beat Russia’s Alexander Kudryavtsev 6-4, 6-1, 6-4. Murray has won his last three meetings with Lu – at Indian Wells and here three years ago and at Queen’s Club last year – but lost at the Beijing Olympics eight years ago.

The 32-year-old world No 76, who beat Andy Roddick here six years ago, is a proven grass-court performer. In the warm-up to Wimbledon he played in three grass-court Challenger tournaments, winning two of them and reaching the final of the other. He has won 15 of the 16 matches he has played on grass this year.

Aljaz Bedene was unable to join Murray in the second round. The British No 2 was beaten 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 by France’s Richard Gasquet.

Tara Moore became the first British woman to reach the second round when she beat Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck 6-3, 6-2. Johanna Konta was 2-1 down to Monica Puig in the second set, having won the first 6-1, when play was called off for the day. Katie Swan was beaten 6-2, 6-3 by Hungary’s Timea Babos.