Andy Murray eases past Dustin Brown with straight sets win at Wimbledon
Top seed wins second-round match in straight sets to set up clash against Fabio Fognini
Wednesday 5 July 2017 21:05, UK
Andy Murray continued the defence of his Wimbledon crown with an accomplished performance against the dangerous Dustin Brown on Wednesday.
World No 1 Murray should have had his work cut out against flamboyant Jamaican-German Brown, an unpredictable player who knocked out Rafael Nadal at the All England Club two years ago.
But he snuffed out his opponent in a straightforward manner to complete a comprehensive 6-3 6-2 6-2 victory with few signs of the right hip problem which had dogged his preparations ahead of the tournament.
The pair had met once before, at the US Open in 2010, when Murray won in straight sets, and Brown, who is usually a committed serve-volleyer, was looking to be even more unpredictable by attempting to take it to the top seed from the baseline in the early stages.
Although the Centre Court crowd were entertained by an array of drop shots, volleys and lobs by Brown, a costly double fault handed Murray the all-important breakthrough before he wrapped up the first set in 35 minutes. The Scot remained professional throughout, dropping five points on serve and making just one unforced error.
Murray, the defending champion, manipulated the ball around the court and was just far too consistent as he quickly earned a double-break in the second set which he served out in style to close in on the last 32.
The Scot, who has never failed to advance to the third round in 13 appearances at Wimbledon now, set up an intriguing encounter against Fabio Fognini on Friday by racing through the third set to complete a thoroughly impressive win in one hour and 36 minutes.
Fognini, seeded 28, swept aside Czech Jiri Vesely 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 6-2 to advance to the next round.
The Italian crushed Murray as recently as the Rome Masters in May, while the pair are 3-3 in career meetings, although they have not previously met on a grass court.
With Murray's win following those of Johanna Konta, Heather Watson and Aljaz Bedene, it is the first time in 20 years that Britain has four players into the third round of the singles, and Kyle Edmund could make that five when he takes on Gael Monfils on Thursday.
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