It was another night on Centre Court where Andy Murray played all the hits, and even had room for a new trick. In what may appear to be a fairly straightforward recovery job against James Duckworth, there was in fact the usual fraught tension, the undying graft as the match teetered on the brink, and the release as Murray finally edged in front.
For a second, as the roof closed, the lights came on and Murray closed out a steely victory 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-4 to advance to the second round, it was as if the 35-year-old had again been suspended in time. You knew you had seen this fight before and although Murray tempered the baying crowd by reminding them of how grateful he is to still be enjoying these opportunities at all, the exciting part is there could be a lot more to come.
