Day 2 Part 2 Queen's

Is it The players are back on court and the match is about to resume

between Stan Wawrinka and Fernando Verdasco. I would love to say that

the Queen's Club is bathed in sunshine, it's the same old #120ry.

Plenty of dark clouds around. We hope to get at least half an hour of

play here between the showers. This is the first match on Centre Court.

It was scheduled to start at 11.30am. They have quite a long

wait. Verdasco has taken the first set. Wawrinka is leading 4-3. Andy

Murray is waiting. He could be on in 10-15 minutes if Stan Wawrinka can

win three straight games. He has a tough opener against Nicolas Mahut.

Who plays well on the grass courts. Nick Kyrgios and Milos Raonic, the

up-and-coming stars of the game. Kyle Edmund will take on Gilles

Simon. Lopez has taken the first set off the former champion, 6-4. Grigor

Dimitrov is taking on Janko Tipsarviv, experienced serve.

Wonderful matches. I wish we had some wonderful weather to enjoy

them. Hopefully, the weather will improve. So much tennis to come over

the next month. From Queen's Club we head to Eastbourne and Wimbledon

starting in two weeks' time. The Davis Cup in Belgrade. Serbia up

against Great Britain. Djokovic against Murray if they both play.

What a treat that is for the next few weeks. What a treat it is John

and Andrew to have some play. They are back on court. Hopefully, we

will get more than the warm-up again. Verdasco will have to serve.

After a rain delay when you come back you think if the birs ball and

first couple of points. A lot of people would prefer to be receiving.

On at grass courts you lose the first couple of months,ed tennis

absolutely different on a grass-court than on a clay-court.

All these players are making their way from the clay of Roland Garros

and onto this grass,ing for match play. This is one of the hazards. We

don't have a roof here at Queen's Club, we never will do. It's one of

the hazards for the star players, wait around and conserve their

energy in the best way possible. There is no way he wants one match,

this double Grand Slam Champion. An important 10-15 minutes for him. It

is. The scoring system? Tennis is wonderful. They have had six break

points. Verdasco has taken four of them. Wawrinka hasn't taken any? It

was a close match. It could have gone either way to this stage. It

will be interesting, we saw a picture of Wawrinka's coach.

Interesting to see what he was talking about during this time.

Wawrinka is an experienced pro. There were signs that he didn't like

being out there. He was - When you lose confidence in your footing it

affects your whole game? It does. He has told him - listen, these are the

times you have to get on with. It you have to buckle down mentally,

get on with it, focus and win the match. Big deep and play the big

points well? If they don't go your way don't

don't Exactly. React. It don't show your opponent anything other than

I'm keen to be out here. And wait for the breaks to come your way.

Nobody has any rhythm at all. Fight hard, play as well as you can. We

will see if he can make an impact on Verdasco in the second set. I'm

anticipating a third set in this match. Before we go on to Fernando

Verdasco what about Andy Murray? We saw him, he was practicing here at

10.00am he finished just after 11.00am a lot of hanging around for

him and his team, including Lendle. He could be on soon? He is

experienced and has been around the grass-court season, as all the

players have. You have to have the mentality, there is a good chance

you will get these kind of days, including at Wimbledon. We have the

roof. There are other matches where you are on and off. The facts of

life in this month. The same thing happened at the French Open. It's

not just Britain where it happens. Have you to get on with it. Andy is

a pro, he has been around. As Andy said earlier on, the players lounge

has so many things to do there, it's not like the old days where there

was nothing. They have the physio rooms, cinema and game rooms. They

will keep themselves occupied and keep themselves simmering. They

don't want to get too fired up to early. 10-15 minutes they know when

they are coming up and they get ready. Andy is a master at these

rain delays. We saw a shadow for a couple of seconds. Verdasco played

wonderful against Nadal and Andy Murray in Wimbledon 2013. Tough

competitor. Good weapons? Top dog in the doubles. He won the doubles at

the ATP World Finals which we will cover in November. Great versatile

all round player. Rank something too low much you think of him as 25-30.

Sglf 53. It seems low. There was a stage after his success he had a

problem with his ball toss but I think that's gone now. You never

know until the big moments hit. Perhaps he lost a bit of confidence.

In this man's forehand, if you have one of those buttons where you can

pause it, don't pause it so you miss too much of the action. His forehand

is incredible. The positions he attains. The speed of the racquet is

truly fearsome. Hi hits the ball harder than Nadal with this

left-handed forehand. Well worth watching for that. The other end,

one of the finest most eleganted single-handed backhand the game has

seen. Worth watching for a few minutes before it pelts down again.

Absolutely. Peter Fleming said he wished he had a forehand like

Fernando Verdasco. How would you rate Peter's forehand? He is

probably listening. That is why I asked. Put it this way, its wasn't

his best shot. They played magnificent tennis even though they

were slipping all over the place, cold and wet and windy. They

produced good tennis. Let's hope they are on court for a long time

and get into the match. Thank you to John and Andy. We can hand over to

Peter who is with John Inverdale. Commonwealth We had two hours to

amuse ourselves, Val, our studio manager, is a big dog person. You

were talking about Fernando Verdasco being a top dog in days gone by. Val

is a big dawn person, I'm a big dog person, we have been talking dogs to

the indifference of Peter Fleming who has not got a canine heart in

him. Whatever! OK, just to respond to that last bit in the studio. I

would have to say there are a couple of members of that studio, not named

KSue, who would also be in the forehand cue. We can't open their

mike crow phones to get their responses. There is somebody with a

handy forehand hitch will feel happier than perhaps Verdasco at the

resumption of play. He has a shot at the Spaniard's serve here. If he can

break early on we have a different game altogether, haven't we?

Absolutely. This is a nerve-wracking game for Verdasco. Coming out cold.

Interestingly, when they started the match, Verdasco was very much the

underdog. Very much probably had low expectations. Started calmly in a

very relaxed fashion and played superb tennis from the off. It would

be quite a good effort if he could duplicate that right now. Pressure

on to hold right here. It's a lot brighter than it has been

all day. So let's hope that's an omen, too.

That this the most difficult toorth hit over the high part of the net.

The short side of the court. It may only be the first point, but

Wawrinka thinking - I could be in here.

That was a quick slider. Really skidded off the surface.

That's double fault number four for Verdasco. It's often where his

double faults occur, into the net. He just gets a little tight and he

doesn't let it go. I was about to ask you, is that a

ball toss fault? Yes. Well, certainly an errant ball toss

is part of it. Is that the fundamental issue? I think a's

nerve. But what comes first - the chicken or the egg sort of thing. He

can't be chicken here because if he does it's going to be a break of

serve. And he wasn't. Well, interestingly, having said

that all the double faults are the ball going into the net, conscious

of that, he then hits it midway between the service line and the

baseline. Double fault number five, two double faults in this game. Both

players know how important this could

That's another opportunity. A clench of a fist from Wawrinka. A second

chance for him to break and take a 5-3 lead. Within touching distance

of squaring the match. That was a very brave second serve

from Verdasco that put him in control of that rally. Was. It

Totally different from the other second serve that is he's hit in

this game. Took that aggressively and followed it up with some big

forehands. Well-deserved. No need for a line judge on that

one. It's quite hard to pick where the

second serve's going to go at the moment, isn't it?

Tessa intriguing really. He appears to be have a beautiful service

action, nice rhythm. Something, probably the ball toss, that...

I'll do it once, then I'll do it again.

The door was opened briefly for Wawrinka but then it was slammed on

his face. That changes the dynamic now because the pressure is on the

number two seed. You can almost feel Verdasco take a deep breath of

relaxation, glad it is over with. Now the pressure switches to

Wawrinka. Did he break a string there? I don't

know. I hope you are enjoying that rally

actually because look what it is being played beneath. That is what

Queen's should look like, a sun-kissed court. And a fantastic

forehand from Stan. And that was very, very

straightforward. It is the time of year when a lot of people who are

casual tennis players or occasional players, or people who play

regularly at a low level find themselves gripped by sport in a way

they don't at other times of the year. Most people understand that if

you are serving at 4-5 down, you are thinking oh, help, got to get the

ball in and not make basic mistakes. You cannot think in those terms if

you are Verdasco, but nonetheless do jitters get to you? Is he thinking,

if I lose my serve here, it is one set all...? No, but usually the

first game or two that you serve when you haven't established a

rhythm, you are more nervous than when it is 3-3 in the third and you

are well grooved. That service game was rife with danger for Verdasco. I

think having held that game he will been -- be less nervous this game,

and the more we go on he will settle into a nice rhythm and feel more

confident. He needs to hold this game, otherwise we are going into a

third set. I think actually playing on grass

helps Verdasco's serve because he knows he needs to use it as a

weapon. He will hit the first serve aggressively. Often on clay he just

rolls the first one in. That was special. The French Open

this year was a drop shot fest, but that is the first we have seen in

this match and magnificently executed. That is the holder of

serve, very straightforward for the Spaniard. Suddenly, this is what Sue

was talking about earlier on, the wonders of the scoring system.

Suddenly the pressure is heaped at the other end of the court.

Yes, and the scoring system has perhaps allowed Wawrinka to get

lazy. You can always come back from any position. Wawrinka sometimes

allows himself to get into a hole, knowing that if he gets a rhythm he

can dig himself out of just about anywhere. He had better start

digging now. Verdasco gave him a helping hand

there. He lost the first set 6-2, we have seen him do that on a number of

occasions this year. Then he works his way into the match.

At Roland Garros, he was within touching distance of becoming the

first defending champion ever to go out in the first round following

year. Which he wasn't aware of until the press conference afterwards,

when he smiled ruefully and said, well I am not.

Big shout from Stan there, from 0- 30 to 40-30.

Come on, he says, and come on he has. Let's talk about Verdasco's

serve because you have made a point of saying it is a key element in the

match today. We have got some statistics about where it is going

and what it is doing. A typical left-hander's serve will hit the

slice very well, and Wawrinka is no exception. That is in the 57% region

in the deuce caught in the middle. He has only lost one point out wide.

In the out court he has been deadly. Also deadly to the forehand, because

that is the most difficult serve to hit. Is that because as the receiver

of the serve, for Wawrinka, to think it will go to his backhand so it is

harder to readjust? Yes, it should be because Verdasco, the slice serve

is an easier one to execute than the flat one so he will probably make

80% of the slice serves that he hits, where is the flat one he might

only get 60% of the time. Wawrinka is taking away the slice serve. On

the deuce caught he is doing a good job but he is left open if Verdasco

does make this flat one out wide in the deuce caught, if that makes any

sense. Wawrinka challenging the call but

walking straight over to the other side of the court so he knows it is

a slightly abortive call. Rather half-hearted applause from the

crowd. Bowled! What happened here? The ball

just came through more quickly than he was expecting perhaps, higher as

well. Because Stan takes such long waxwings, it leaves him vulnerable

from time to time from the odd bad bounce. They don't get many here.

Huge kick on that second serve from Verdasco there.

Well, we have been here before. Six times actually. And of course it is

not just the tie-break beckoning, Andy Murray is waiting as well. He

will be on after this match. It could be soon. Especially if

Verdasco keeps hitting forehands like that. Exactly. Come on,

Fernando! We want Andy! So, tie-break time. Anybody's game.

Well... He doesn't want to get a warning but that racket surely

cracked. I could hear it from here. It is that forehand. How much he has

been a great stalwart of this tournament for many years, and I'm

not sure the tournament organisers want to lose the number two siege

today and the number four seed yesterday, in the only two matches

to be completed so far. That was a nervy second serve from Stanislas

Wawrinka. He is on the board. That was a bit

of a soft error from Verdasco. I'm surprised he opted for the slice, it

is not a shot he hit that often. Stan is challenging. But I think it

is more in hope than expectation because he knows that went along.

Yes, and because he had to duck to hit that smash, he kind of guided

it. It floated long. Verdasco lost his footing. The court

was open down the line and Wawrinka opted to try to wrong-foot him and

ended up putting the ball in the net. Suddenly here we are now with

Danis last Wawrinka, the number two seed, twice a Grand Slam champion,

facing a very early exit from this year's Aegon Championships at

Queen's. Fernando Verdasco just two points from victory now.

He simply has to hold both these points on his own serve, you feel.

He's actually had eight break points in this match, Wawrinka, but has

taken none of them. Huge roar. Huge forehand. Match

point. So Stan lives to fight another day,

but for how much longer? Was that a slightly tentative forehand from

Wawrinka that allowed Verdasco to hit that winner, Peter? It was. It

was a questionable target. You want to force the guy to hit a screaming

winner off his weaker ground stroke if at all possible.

So, Verdasco has three shots at knocking out the number two seed.

That's a strange finish to the game. A complete mishit by Verdasco which,

at the moment of impact, was sure to go out. It somehow looped in.

Just! Just! The ball was in. Wawrinka is out.

APPLAUSE. So 6-2, 6-3 in the second set

tie-break means that Fernando Verdasco, of Spain, who got to the

quarter-finals here in 2011, is through to the second round and the

quickest of quick exits is made by Stan Wawrinka. The semi-finalist at

Roland Garros a couple of weeks ago. Looking for competitive grass-court

practice before heading to Wimbledon where he will be highly seeded. He

won't get it here at Queen's Club, exit Wawrinka, we will see Fernando

Verdasco in the next round. The sun has come out. To salute the Spaniard

and the winner of that match will play the winner of Kevin Anderson,

beaten finalist here last year and the Australian. We will hear from

Fernando Verdasco in a moment, I think. A broad grin. Plenty of food

for thought for his new adviser after that first foray on the grass

this year. I suppose we should not be too surprised about Verdasco he

got to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon three years ago. As Peter

Fleming was saying throughout that commentary, that slicing serve, that

huge forehand as well, especially on the penultimate point there which

gave him the opportunity to win the match are huge weapons on the grass.

He'll be using them to good effect, I'm sure, during the course of the

rest of this tournament and at Wimbledon in a couple of weeks'

time. Let's hear from the winner now. He's down in our interview

position with Andrew Many congratulations. KCotter. Big win,

number two seed has gone. You look settled on the grass from the start?

Of course, very happy with today's win. It's always important to beat a

player like Wawrinka so, you know, it's my first match of the season on

grass. Very happy with the level that I played today and, hopefully,

getting even better during the week. Thank you and I'm very happy. Thank

you everybody here. Tell us how difficult it is for players to get

used to playing on the grass? It's tough, of course. My first match on

grass was when I was 20 or 21 years old. I didn't really play so much

when I was young. I just needed to adapt my game once I was

professional. You know, I did very good matches of my career on grass.

I got used to it. Some years I did better, some years not. I try to

enjoy because it's beautiful play. A wonderful feel here at Queen's next

round it might be Anderson, they will be difficult? This tournament

is so tough. Every match is so, so, difficult. Of course, you know, you

don't really want to play with number seed one, number seed two. It

doesn't matter at the end because there are players who aren't even

seeded who are difficult or even more than the seeded sometimes. It's

a 500 event, a big event. Every match win here is great. Many

congratulations. A little bit of blue sky for you. Well done. Thank

you very much. Long may it last. What a shock we had here. Two

matches completed. We have lost a two-time Grand Slam winner in Stan

Wawrinka. Last year's Wimbledon imsemi-finalist, Richard Gasquet.

It's the defending Champion who's chasing title number five.

Well the final is a long way away. He has a tough opener today against

Nicolas Mahut. He is trying to chase history here to be the first man to

win this title five times. Four time winners including McEnRoy, Becker,

and Ruddock. He could win it five times. What a record it has been for

Andy Murray. Peter Fleming has joined us. Great record for Andy

Murray. Familiar court, he loves playing here. That's important?

Absolutely. I think it's a situation that he must be looking forward to.

He's probably a little nervous because he want wants to do well

here at home. He has won it four times, it's probably not going to,

you know, kill him if he loses. But as all of these guys are coming out

onto this court, which is very slick, he'll be a little tentative.

He will be a little worried about how he moves around on it. He will

adjust quicker than most. Absolutely. He does adjust so well.

He has proved it time and time again. Even when there wasn't that

one week break, even in the one week break, five days off. That was

important to recharge the batteries and give himself a chance before the

grass-court season? He needed that. He said he was run down after the

French and the clay-court season, understandably so. The amount of

work he put in there. Take five days off, he practiced a little bit, not

as much as he would have liked to have done because the weather. The

last couple of days has been dodgy weather wise. The court will be

slick. He is coming up against a player who is - talk about in form,

won a tournament. Has all the match practice he needs on grass. It's a

dangerous match. We have seen Stan Wawrinka go out. These type of

conditions are ready for upsets. Andy Murray has to come out here

very sharp today or he could be in trouble. Is absolutely. Well, here

they come. This is the match everyone has been looking forward

to. Everyone has taken their seats. A full house at the Queen's Club. He

is in tremendous form this year, improved his game, he is the World

Number 2. Only jock yobbing is ahead of him. A huge ovation for the

defending champion. They know, they are a good tennis crowd, they know

how serious this opponent is today and how difficult a start this is

for the defending champion. That's the thing, Peter, it's lovely that

we have some sunshine and the temperature has gone up 10 degrees

as well, that will certainly help. These tough opening matches, when a

player comes in like Nicolas Mahut who has just won, he comes in with

so many wins under his belt? He has a great pedigree. One of the victors

for Ruddock was a tight final against Yes in the Mahut. Third set.

He lost that incredible match at Wimbledon. He knows his way on the

grass-court. He should be a difficult opponent for Murray. Ivan

Lendl back with Murray. He wants Andy to be more aggressive? He was a

tentative player, and used his great athleticism to defend the court and

counter punch against guys. He is not the same player any more. He is

quite an aggressive player from the back of the court, certainly. I

don't think that Ivan will have to harp on about that as much as he did

early on. I think the main thing that he might try and get stuck into

is just Andy's mental approach. When he goes out there. He does still

occasionally like to lose his temper. Well, I don't know, I

haven't spoken to Ivan about it, I would have thought he might say - I

would like you to be a little bit cooler and face each moment with a

calmer demeaner. It's get thing the balance right. You want him to be

fired up and want to win. Sometimes that aggression comes out verbally,

you also don't want him to drain his energy from that? Yeah. He tends to

do that particularly in slams in the first two or three matches where he

just gets a bit negative. He can't walk around and say nothing. That is

not Andy Murray. He would lose a lot of his game. You want it to be more

of a positive look about him rather than the whining stuff he does now

and again. He is not as bad as he used to be. That wears you down,

particularly with a Grand Slam over two weeks. Keep it in a positive

vain than the whining. It sends a message to the opponent. When you

play against the big guys don't give them advantages. They don't know

what your' thinking rather than giving it away. Ivan Lendl will be

great for him. That is one way of looking at it. What exists is now.

Have you no power in the past or the future. Why spend all your time

thinking about it. It's like - OK, I'm human. I do miss once in a

while. So, it's over with. What am I going to do on the next shot? Where

am I going to hit that? Easier said than done though? Of course it is.

If it was that easy, we'd all do it, right! Yes, exactly. He has made

changes, hasn't he, Peter, Murray, he has improved the shots,

particularly the second serve, a bigger weapon than it used to be?

The forehand as well. He changed it slightly technically, he had has

gone back to the drawing board? Has he? Yeah. His forehand is an

aggressive shot. It a weapon, assuming he is feeling confident. He

loses confidence and goes back to his style of putting it down the

middle and run. He changed the serve a bit technically. He went back and

spoke to a number of junior coaches and realised a lot of the coaches

don't teach the technical, it's about position and tactics. He went

back to actually learn a new technique to improve his serve? For

me, I agree with that. Andy Murray tended to be a little bit

predictable at some stages where his first serve went, particularly on

the add side when it was a big point and he needed it. He would go wide.

On the forehand he would go down the middle. He has changed that a lot.

His second serve, to me he flattens it out more than he used to. Miles

per hour have gone up a little bit much we don't see so many second

serves that at some stages were going into mid 70s were saying - hit

me. Now there is not so much of a weakness there. I think he has

improved his serve definitely. They thought there was something wrong

with his serve and got coaches to help him with his technique that

gave him more confidence. Had he is willing to hit the second serve with

a lot more power than he used to be. It's about having confidence and if

you doubt your shot, the crucial times, it falls apart? Look at the

great servers, Pete Sampras. A second serve came there wasn't

hesitation he was going to hit a second serve 110mph down the middle

and go for it. I'm not saying Andy Murray should suddenly do that, this

increase in power, it's a work in progress, you have to have that

concentration that you can hit it - not the concentration, the

confidence on big points. Easy to do it in the first set. 4-4 in the

fifth or 30-30 can you do it then? He is showing he can. As far asthma

Mahut is concerned, great doubles player. One of the best in the

world. Two in the world at the moment behind Jamie Murray. Shows he

knows his way around the net. He can come forward. He is going to attack

today? Absolutely, and he has always been

an attacking player, which is why he has done so well on grass. The fact

he has won so many doubles tournaments has given him a lot of

confidence as well so he is coming into this match feeling very good

about himself. And as Andy is, obviously, so, you know, it

certainly will be interesting. And of course he has a win against

Murray here. Andy has got to bully him, hasn't he, to start with. Yes,

he gets a target. And he likes that. Mahut volleys very well. The stature

of being number one in the world, I know he has dropped to number two

now, but you walk around with your shoulders nice and broad after that.

It is relatively late for him to win at doubles, and now he has won

tournament so he has got to be one of the most confident players on the

tour. He will see this as something to go after. He has no fear, he has

played amazing Davis Cup ties, he has experience. Didn't he play

yesterday, so he might be a little bit jaded mentally. He won't have

time to celebrate because he knew he had to come here and play so that

could go either way for him. It could either make him tired or uber

confident. Thank you. John is on his way to the commentary box. Andy is

already there. COMMENTATOR: Andy is going for title

number five at Queen's and this is where the journey begins to try to

take a second Wimbledon title as well. The grass court season is not

long but he has plenty of support behind him. Andy Murray, the world

number two, the British number one of course, up against Nicolas Mahut.

34 years old, Nicolas Mahut, ranked 51st in the world in singles. Better

than that though, especially on a grass court, where he must be

considered top ten, maybe top 15. Certainly on current form.

Andy Murray telling me yesterday that he took five straight days off

after losing in the French Open final to Novak Djokovic. What a

bruising tournament that was. And immediately the conversations have

started between Jerry Solomon, Ivan Lendl's manager, and Matt Gentry,

who looks after Andy Murray. Shortly after that it was confirmed by text

after sleeping on it for a night by Yvan Lendl that he was willing to

give it a go. That was not the best drop shot

there from Mahut, not when you are going up against Andy Murray. It

needs to be shorter than that. He got away with it because he

anticipated the volley. Take a close look at Andy Murray's

footwork, and you see how comfortable he is on this surface,

four times champion here of course, unlike Stanislas Wawrinka who went

out earlier onto Fernando Verdasco. No doubt about it, Mahut is one of

the best volley is on the tour. Even with the low ones, he has a very

good technique, very confident. A couple of times in that game

there, Mahut serving the body serve. That is a good thing to do,

especially against Murray, because he is so adept at that return of

serve. I don't think enough players use that serve these days, they go

for the aces all the time. You can't do too many of those against Murray.

And here is the aggressive play, the second serve. You will see a lot

more of those, I imagine. Taking a chance, chipping and charging.

Unlucky, unlucky. Yes, this half volley here was good, but he was

unlucky that it hit the top of the net and slowed the speed up.

They might be looking for David Beckham, but I suspect they are

trained on Andy Murray just at this point.

tournament. He knows how to come through. This is a real test. We

have seen from Murray a real respect for Mahut as an opponent. He knows

he has got to get going straightaway, and he looked fresh.

Yes, he pumped his fist, and he hasn't done that for a while. Only

just started the match but he looks very sharp already. So does Mahut.

This will be a high-quality much no matter what happens with the score

because you have two excellent grass court players. Looking back at who

Mahut beat in 2007, losing out to Roddick, he beat Younus -- Jonas

Bjorkman. This is a court he has great memories on. After that year

he qualified at Wimbledon and beat Clement there. This is an enticing

match, one to make the tournament director nervous. Seven French men

in the draw. The most populous nation in this jaw. Great Britain

second, with five. That's a good serve. Only 105mph.

It's where he places it. And at what time in the game and also where had

he served the previous time on that point. He's a very intelligent

player. Replaced the top of the world rankings, as has been

mentioned by his opponent's brother this week. Well done Jamie Murray,

OBE. What a swerve on that serve. It's

one of those ones - Oh! Duck there to avoid the big hit.

Yeah. APPLAUSE As you would expect from a

man who won a tournament yesterday. Arriving here in fantastic form.

These courts perhaps a little different from the ones in Holland,

but evidence of how dangerous a match this is for Andy Murray, break

point. These were very fine instinctses

from Mahut that got him through the game. A couple of timing errors from

Andy Murray on the forehand, the one that went out wide. His options were

limited there on that backhand slice. Brilliant play from the

Frenchman? That second serve from Murray was half caught and at 78mph.

Mahut there sort of hit that delicate shot. Murray a little

unlucky with that backhand. That was a little bit short. Mahut is always

pushing forwards, not charging at everything. You can just sense he

has that presence of Murray knowing if he doesn't hit the ball deep, his

opponent is going to do something with it. He's very consistent right

now. He is seeing the ball so big and looks so confident out here.

Fantastic year in the doubles, won Rotterdam and won Miami, Monte

Carlo. Semi-final of Madrid. He's won a lot of matches this year. He's

one of only of around about a dozen single players who plays doubles on

a regular basis, which is such a shame. There's no doubt the rankings

would be an awful lot different if the single players played, but they

don't so often these day, but here's one who does. So a bright end to the

day, weather wise anyway. A lot of net calls going on in this

match already. Nicely handled though, isn't it? You

can mess them up quite easily. A change of direction. Just a simple

length push down-the-line. That is just a gorgeous point, from

the Frenchman there. A change of pace with the slice. Not giving

Murray much pace to work with. Then he just rifles that backhand

down-the-line when he gets the chance. That's a beautiful shot.

11-shot rally, finished with that wonderful stroke.

See how comfortable he was on that low volley? He would be handy at

County Week, wouldn't he? Exactly. He really is an old fashioned

player. Look how low he is on that one. The depth in that volley. Gave

Murray not much chance on the next ball. Excellent.

The first time he has come in too early on the shot, in terms of where

you hit it. He has been tactically so good, that one came in from too

far back and went straight into the forehand, then Murray didn't have to

move too much to hit that passing shot.

First double fault in this match. Murray already with four aces to his

opponent's zero, but it's very rarely about the amount of aces, it

is's about the timing of these things.

Oh. Two in a row, thats with a bit tight.

40-40 in this game. Two doubles, deuce. I think he thought this game

was already over. Mentally he's just tapped out a little bit here. He's

got to regain his composure. So good. UMPIRE advantage Murray. I

can guarantee you, Murray was the only person who knew that was

coming. Lovely disguise, inside the baseline and Murray with the break

point. By his standards, that was not a

good volley. He was annoyed at himself. Perhaps he had one eye on

Andy Murray down the other end, running as fast as he could, even

for a possible lost cause over there, Mahut just seeing that in the

corner of his eye and trying a little bit too much to get close to

the line. It's another break point. APPLAUSE Well, you won't see that

too many times during the grass-court service. A break of

serve from down. Wonderful passing shot. Mahut, the architect of his

own downfall there, a forehand approach that was never going

anywhere, two double faults. Extraordinary. Didn't expect to see

that. APPLAUSE

A bit of a concern there as Murray came in and slipped. Don't know

whether that was the front foot or the back foot, there is a good three

or four foot skidmark here. Pretty controlled. You look back and go - I

didn't mean that, particularly! During Wimbledon, Murray will rotate

about six pairs of shoes. Oh. Now, that's difficult. Just

pushing off. From the back foot, slightly changing direction. He has

a significant amount of tape on his left knee. That hurts the hip flexes

those ones. He seems to be OK. APPLAUSE.

New tennis balls, I always think this is a bit rough. He just comes

underneath it, Murray. Mahut trying to push. It didn't look too bad.

Again, those little slips, the confidence just takes a little

bit... He starts worrying a little bit. Murray did the same thing when

he moved up close to the net. Looked up at the umpire as if to say it is

a bit slippery here, but the umpire is not going to stop this match. No

way. Very interesting, the intensity from

Andy Murray straightaway. Playing with a real freshness and I can't

help but think some of that is his new coach, Ivan Lendl has rejoined

the team and is in the courtside box. It's a mixture of the

re-establishing of that partnership, and a quality opponent who everyone

in the world respects very much, down the other end. Right behind

Nicolas Mahut serving, a fellow just making his way in.

He was a bit ill last week, Andy Murray, after the trials and

tribulations of the French Open. He took a few days off and became ill.

Just to say, we will be leaving this match here on BBC Two in a few

minutes but you will be able to continue watching this match and the

tennis at Queen's on the red button, or you can watch it on the BBC sport

website. But for the next few minutes we are going to stay here on

BBC Two. As soon as the ball gets above the

clubhouse, the wind coming in from the west, as it is, roughly Heathrow

direction, always takes it about ten foot further wide.

Strong. And from a break down in this set, 5-4 up. That was a good

service game there. I mentioned the finish in the French Open, finishing

with a loss to Novak Djokovic once again in the final of the Grand

Slam, he came home and got ill. Immune system low. Of course he has

baby Sofia at home, just over four months old, and you pick up

everything they get. Especially when you are run down, but a wonderful

time in his life. Yes, he is in such good place, and he loves this period

when he is at home, this month, five weeks. It centres him again, and

after the great clay court season he has had, back home now, and it makes

things so much easier. He looks very eager today, he looks very sharp.

Sometimes at Queen's we have seen him in the first round or two

looking mentally fatigued. But he doesn't look that way at all to me,

he looks fresh and eager to go. He beat Nicolas Mahut from this end

last time. If he could do so again, he would make this set.

This is absolutely drama free volley, isn't it. That's textbook.

That is brilliant. That is just such good feel of the ball. That was a

difficult shot, a bit behind him but he managed to get perfect balance.

Look at the extension on that racket, and he just cuts threw the

ball. So Mahut holes and it is five games

all. Sorry but we do have to leave the tennis now on BBC Two so if you

want to continue watching the match, you can on the red button, or watch

it online on the BBC sport website. We will be back tomorrow at the

usual time at one o'clock on BBC Two. If you