Murray & Norrie beat the rain to reach round two

Andy Murray maintained his record of never losing in the Wimbledon first round with an encouraging victory over fellow Briton Ryan Peniston.

But the Scot showed his greater class to fight off early break points, before going up a gear to win 6-3 6-0 6-1.

British number one Cameron Norrie, a semi-finalist last year, won 6-3 4-6 6-1 6-4 against Czech Tomas Machac.

Murray and Peniston, who is ranked 268th, were among the few players who could complete their first-round matches on Tuesday, with the all-British affair taking place under the Centre Court roof.

Later on, as the rain that decimated day two beat down on the Court One roof, 12th seed Norrie came through a tricky test against qualifier Machac.

The 27-year-old home hope produced a largely composed display as he started his bid to replicate the best Grand Slam run of his career.

Both Norrie and Murray, who could face each other in the fourth round, are still waiting to find out their next opponents.

Norrie will play American Christopher Eubanks or Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro, while Murray, 36, faces Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem.

Those contests were among many matches scheduled to take place on Tuesday but cancelled by heavy and prolonged downpours in south-west London.

Fellow Britons Katie Boulter and George Loffhagen started their matches in the morning before being forced off the outside courts shortly after 12:00 BST.

Play was suspended for several hours and, with the weather not forecast to improve much over the rest of evening, almost all of the day’s other matches were called off.

Another Briton, 27th seed Dan Evans, was able to return to court, going on to Centre Court at about 19:30 BST to finish his match against France’s Quentin Halys.

Evans, 33, trailed 6-2 6-3 in a match that started late on Monday but was moved to Tuesday because of fading light.

Murray shows ‘good signs’ in straightforward win

On the 10th anniversary of his iconic first Wimbledon win, Murray has talked positively and bullishly about his chances of going deep in the draw over the next fortnight.

The former world number one, whose career was saved by having a metal cap inserted into his hip in 2019, says he is as physically and mentally prepared as he has been in recent years.

Being one of the most experienced players on the grass, a surface many younger rivals on the ATP Tour have struggled to get to grips with, is also a positive he has been pointing to.

Knowing his way around a grass court enabled Murray to win back-to-titles at Surbiton and Nottingham earlier in the British summer, albeit at a level below the main tour.

A chastening defeat by Australia’s Alex de Minaur at Queen’s did not dampen his spirits, the Scot insisting it was nothing to panic about.

Defeat against a fellow Briton he was expected to breeze past would have been cause for concern but, after a slow start, he encountered few problems.

Dropping just four games was Murray’s second most-convincing winning scoreline at Wimbledon, after a 6-1 6-1 6-0 win over Slovenia’s Blaz Rola in 2014.

“I was quite nervous at the beginning and I wanted to play well but once I got the break in that first set I think I played some good stuff,” said Murray, who also lifted the Wimbledon trophy in 2016.

“There were good signs there.”

Peniston, 27, was making his debut on the most famous court in tennis, although he had been there as a fan in 2015 to watch fellow Briton Heather Watson push top seed Serena Williams in a thriller.

Returning this time as a player, against the iconic name in British tennis, was a completely different scenario.

Peniston did not look daunted in the opening stages and was the better player as he created two break points against Murray.

Murray was particularly struggling to get his forehand working, leaking errors off that wing, but showed his ability to problem solve and survive before taking the opening set.

With the returning Roger Federer nodding in approval on the front row of the Royal Box, Murray’s class started to shine through.

The Scot began to find more rhythm, enabling him to unleash more power and put Peniston under severe pressure.

The left-hander from Essex won only 36% of the points in a one-sided second set, Murray continuing to show his ruthlessness in a third set where he also broke serve three times.

When Peniston pushed a forehand long on Murray’s second match point, Murray gave a muted and respectful shake of the fist before a warm embrace with an opponent who has become a friend in recent years.