Andy Murray plays down Wimbledon roof complaint



Andy Murray again found life tougher than expected under the Centre Court roof at Wimbledon but the world No 4's only complaint was that it makes things too perfect.

The Briton was a heavy favourite to beat Daniel Gimeno-Traver in round one but he was given a real battle for a set and a half by an opponent playing inspired tennis, before reeling off 15 games in a row to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.

It was Murray's second time playing under the roof after he and Stanislas Wawrinka contested the first complete match indoors in 2009.

On that occasion the Scot struggled with the conditions and needed five sets to come through, but he insisted the experience is different rather than unpleasant.

"Last time I made a comment on it and for some reason it came out (in the press) as I hated it - I never said that. The roof changes the conditions," Murray said.

"If anything it's almost too perfect. There's no wind, no sun, no elements to contend with. It's different grass-court tennis.

"And, like you saw in the first set, he was able to hit a lot of huge forehands, which it's normally harder to do when it's a little bit breezy outside or whatever.

"It definitely slows the court down a little bit. But it was a good match. I thought it was a good standard of match and a good atmosphere in there as well."

Gimeno-Traver, the Spanish No 11 at 59th in the world, had won only four games in their previous meeting in Valencia two years ago but for much of the first two sets an upset really did look possible.

The 25-year-old was pinning Murray back with huge groundstrokes and nailing his serve when he needed to, and it was not until the fourth seed broke for 5-3 in the second set that he could afford to relax in any way.

That was certainly the turning point, with Gimeno-Traver sensing his chance had gone and Murray starting to fire winners at will, and it was to the Scot's credit that he wrapped up victory in such decisive fashion.

The match proved a perfect test of his resolve to keep his frustration in check on court, and Murray, who next faces either Tobias Kamke or Blaz Kavcic, passed with flying colours.

"It was tough because I was having quite a lot of chances and I wasn't able to convert any of them for the first set and a half," Murray said.

"And then I did get myself fired up when I managed to get the break, and after that I didn't lose a game. So I did a good job of that and it's something that I need to keep on improving on because the matches are going to get tougher. I'm going to go through a lot of those situations during the tournament."

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