Andy Murray ends a 724-day absence from Centre Court as he and the 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams win on their debut outing
Sunday 7 July 2019 11:25, UK
The dream team of Andy Murray and Serena Williams made a winning start to their mixed doubles campaign at Wimbledon on Saturday evening.
Murray, who is limited to playing doubles as he returns from surgery, lost in the men's doubles alongside Pierre-Hugues Herbert earlier on Saturday, while seven-time singles champion Williams warmed up for the match by reaching the fourth round in singles after beating Julia Goerges for the second year in a row.
Murray and Williams, who enjoy a combined nine Wimbledon singles titles between them, linked up well as they cruised past sixth-seeded Andreas Mies of Germany and Alexa Guarachi of Chile 6-4 6-1 on Centre Court.
"It worked out well. We've never played together so it's always a learning curve," Williams said. "We take it very serious, so that's why we're in it."
She later added: "I think it was fun. I had fun out there. Some moments I thought were really fun. But we're obviously here to do well, but have fun at the same time."
Williams overcame an inauspicious start, where she played the first two points with her accreditation lanyard still around her neck, to play her part in winning the first set.
Mies' serve was broken in the first game and there was no looking back, as despite missing nine other break points, Murray served it out to make it a promising start to their partnership.
They continued to dominate proceedings and as well as entertain the crowd, while the level of their tennis will surely have other pairings in the draw shuddering as they demolished Mies, French Open champion in the men's doubles last month, and Guarachi in the second set.
They broke twice to lead 4-0 and, after Williams saved three break points, they saw out the win in 76 minutes.
Murray said: "For me it was a great experience being back on Centre Court with Serena after the last year or so being tough. It was nice. I enjoyed it."
