First set: Murray* 4-2 Millman (*denotes server)
With 20 minutes gone, Murray moves through the gears to secure a love break. Not much Millman could do there. His serve is coming back at him almost every time and, in this game at least, Murray backed up his fine returning with some flawless play from the back. Impressive stuff from the former champion.
First set: Murray* 3-2 Millman (*denotes server)
If Millman is to make inroads against Murray, he’ll need to be both canny and consistent. He lacks firepower, so hitting the No2 seed off the court isn’t an option. But if he hangs in the rallies and comes in off the right ball, who knows what might happen? He does those things in fine style here, inviting Murray to go long with a lob and outlasting Murray on break point to reclaim the break. Excellent play from the Aussie.
John Millman recovered an early break against Andy Murray. Photograph: Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images
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First set: Murray 3-1 Millman* (*denotes server)
Millman makes the scoreboard at the fourth time of asking. He swings an ace out wide on the opening point, but soon loses ground again with an unforced error off the ground. At 15-30 he manages to get Murray off balance with a wickedly angled topspin forehand, working the rally for a couple more shots before the Scot drives a backhand long. Murray nets twice more, and that’ll be a relief for Millman, whose thoughts must have been turning to a dreaded love set for a while there.
First set: Murray* 3-0 Millman (*denotes server)
Murray has rapidly found a good rhythm on serve, a point highlighted when he sends down his third ace in two service games. Neither does fortune appear to be smiling on Millman, who finds the net tape with an overhead after Murray negates a foray into the forecourt from the Aussie with another lob. Tough start for Millman.
Andy Murray keeps his eyes on the ball as he makes a solid start. Photograph: Tim Ireland/AP
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First set: Murray 2-0 Millman* (*denotes server)
The problem facing Millman is clear. He’s not going to win this match by slugging it out from the baseline. But he hasn’t got the biggest serve and, when he does come in, Murray sends a topspin lob sailing serenely into the space behind him. The Queenslander quickly falls further behind, and at 15-40 concedes the first break with a netted backhand. Not the start he was looking for.
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First set: Murray* 1-0 Millman (*denotes server)
In a game notable for some wicked sliced backhands from Murray, Millman at least gets to play a couple of short rallies, the first of which he wins. That should settle any early nerves. Nonetheless, Murray belts down a forehand winner and a couple of aces to make a confident start.
Chair umpire Jay Garner has just called time. Murray has elected to serve – understandably so, given how secure he’s looked in that department over the past few weeks. Millman, meanwhile, sits in his chair lapping up the atmosphere. He’s clearly excited to be out there.
Is Millman in the right mood to mix it with Murray here? You’d better believe it. He was out on Centre Court earlier looking very relaxed, and on Friday he was named in Australia’s Olympic team. Happy days for the man from Brisbane.
— John Millman (@johnhmillman)
July 1, 2016Olympics selection and winning through to the third round. Days don’t get much better than that.… https://t.co/wZsNfjXUk2
Good news: Millman has been found and is out on Centre Court alongside Murray, who has just won the toss. The sun’s out again, too, so we’re well and truly set fair for the afternoon’s entertainment – beneath a reopened roof, no less.
Murray and Millman have played once before, in Millman’s native Brisbane back in 2013. Murray won that encounter in three sets, and was distinctly impressed with what he saw. “I didn’t know him before we played in Brisbane,” said Murray. “I knew it was his home town. He played extremely well that day. He was ranked, I want to say, about 200 at the time. I came off the court and I said to Dani Vallverdu, who I was working with, ‘He’s top 50 for sure if he keeps going’. I don’t know what his ranking is now, but he’s pretty close, I think, to that. He moves well. He has a great attitude. He’s played a few good matches there in Brisbane. But obviously it’s a different surface, different place. The match-up will be a bit different on a grass court.”
But stop the press, because Millman’s apparently gone AWOL! Word is no one can find him. Meanwhile, Ivan Lendl is up in Murray’s box looking distinctly unimpressed. Clearly that’s his default expression, so whether it’s Millman’s absence that’s causing him consternation is an open question.
He’s an interesting player, is Millman. Having broken into the top 100 a year or so ago, he recently achieved a career-high ranking of 60. That rise is testament to the Queenslander’s resilience, because it’s only three years since he suffered a shoulder injury that forced him off the Tour and into a sharp suit. “I worked in the City for a little bit at one of my mate’s companies,” says Millman. “I was dressed up in a suit each day going in. I always wanted to get back into tennis. And I think I really have an appreciation of these moments right now, because there was a big time there where I wasn’t too confident.”
The Centre Court roof was opened after Halep’s match but it’s since started to rain, sparking a scramble for the covers. Still, it shouldn’t take too long to get the roof closed again and there’s an air of expectation around the famous old arena, where the usual middle-Saturday array of sporting stars are up in the Royal Box. Among them are David Beckham, Denise Lewis and Sir Chris Hoy, boxers Nicola Adams and Carl Froch, and retired rugby union stars Bill Beaumont and Brian O’Driscoll. That should get the competitive juices of both players flowing; neither man will want to give a bad account of himself in front of such luminaries.
We should be underway shortly. Simona Halep, whose efforts to introduce greater boldness to her game are starting to reap dividends, has just seen off Kiki Bertens, the 26th seed from the Netherlands, in straight sets. The bottom half of the women’s draw looks pretty open following the shock defeat of second seed Garbiñe Muguruza, and you wouldn’t put it past the plucky Romanian to go one step further than she did a couple of summers ago, when she made the last four at the All England Club.
Preamble
In the six weeks since the French Open began, Andy Murray’s world has turned on its head. Seeded second at Roland Garros, where he arrived on a high after a magnificent victory over Novak Djokovic on the clay courts of the Foro Italico, Murray was battle-bruised and weary of limb within two rounds after playing back-to-back five setters against Radek Stepanek and Mathias Bourgue. That was in mid-May. Wind the clock forward to the middle Saturday of Wimbledon and we find the Scot, who arrived in SW19 on a high after claiming a record-breaking fifth title at Queen’s Club, fresh as the proverbial daisy after sweeping past fellow Brit Liam Broady and Yen-Hsun Lu in straight sets. In Paris, Murray was detained for more than seven hours over the first two rounds; at Wimbledon, it has taken him just three hours and 42 minutes to make round three. Better yet, from Murray’s perspective, this time around it is Novak Djokovic, rather than Murray, struggling to avoid an early defeat. And while Roland Garros began with the world No2 forced to deny rumours of a rift with Amélie Mauresmo, the coach with whom he parted company shortly before the tournament started, Wimbledon has started on a more positive note, with Ivan Lendl’s return to the fold.
In short, much has changed for the 2013 champion over the past month and a half, and most of it for the better. But, what with this being professional sport and all, the horizon is not cloud-free. Blackening the outlook for Murray is the imposing figure of John Millman, the 6ft, 67th-ranked Australian who, at the ripe old age of 27, is riding the crest of a mid-career wave at the All England Club and apparently in no mood to stop. Having accounted for Benoît Paire, the 26th-seeded Frenchman, in the previous round, Millman reflected: “You dream of playing on the biggest courts against the biggest players. I feel as if I deserve to be there. I have played two good matches to get through. I have never been one to necessarily go out with an intimidated mindset before I play. I think that that’s kind of being disrespectful to the game. So we are going to start at 0-0. I’m going to give it everything.” Can he extend the best run of his career in SW19? We’re about to find out.
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