Murray has started Wimbledon well

Andy Murray's four-set work-out against Robert Kendrick at Wimbledon yesterday was a good thing, says Richard Williams in the Guardian. "He fended off the challenge of Kendrick without needing to dig into his deepest reserves of resistance or seriously test the nerves of his supporters. The persistent Kendrick asked plenty of questions, and the Scot's calm response would appear to bode well for his future in this year's tournament."

Kendrick was never likely to cause a massive upset against the British No 1, as he is "ranked 73 places below Murray in the world standings, and in his 10th year as a professional", but the "California-born Kendrick is a talented journeyman" and "he did full justice to his talent" during the near three-hour contest on Centre Court.

"Murray started as he would have wished, taking the Kendrick serve in the first game of the match when the American made a series of errors on his forehand followed by a double fault at break point, both deliveries failing to pass the net. This was not, as it turned out, a harbinger of things to come, in respect either of the forehand errors or the fallibility of the Kendrick serve."

But "with the match an hour and a half old, Kendrick was right back in it. Serving well and deploying that forehand with the weight of a howitzer and the accuracy of a sniper's rifle, the 29-year-old was showing the qualities that gave a him a two-set lead and a third-set tiebreak against Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2006, in a match he hurled 32 aces past the Spaniard."

Eventually Murray's superior temperament and strength won through, but "this was a workout demanding enough to get Murray on his toes and sharpen his mental reflexes for the challenges ahead." ·