Day 1 Today at Wimbledon

Novak in the semifinals. This is opposing the first four rounds go

according to plan for you know who. There are moments when the world

moves so slowly you can feel your bones shifting and your mind

tumbling. When you know you will remember every last detail of that

moment for ever. At 1pm today for the first time in 77 years a British

man walked onto Centre Court as the defending Men's Singles champion.

Welcome to today at Wimbledon with John McEnroe, Lindsay Davenport and

me John infidel as we reflect on an opening day that began like no other

in our lifetimes. Champions know you are only as good as your next game.

Here is Andy Murray against David Goffin of Belgium in the first round

of his title defence. All fine in the first two sets, less so in the

third. APPLAUSE

Looking dangerous for the first and today, Goffin. -- first time.

The first time he has really been ahead in the scores well, he held

his first couple of service games, always a break down in the first two

sets. Zero -13 hour on Andy Murray 's serve. -- now.

Andy Murray less than perfect with the approach shot but Goffin

perfection personified with the past. -- the pass.

A bit of a shift perhaps coming here, a couple of break for Goffin.

It positive way to save the second break point.

UMPIRE: Advantage Andy Murray. He has done pretty well given he has no

sense of where the baseline is. That was huge. Courtesy of a blockbuster

shot from Goffin. -- lacklustre. The crisis averted, let's move on in the

third set to the point where Andy Murray is now 4-5 down.

COMMENTATOR: The good news for Andy Murray is he is certainly making

Goffin white card. Even if you were for some reason not to win this set.

I cannot imagine Goffin can keep his effort up. -- work hard. For another

couple of hours. APPLAUSE It may even pay off in the next few

minutes. How much longer can Goffin survive

this? She does not look unduly stressed.

She was also a champion down under in 2006. Her first ever grand title.

It has given Andy Murray something to think about it.

Not a lot of David Goffin but what there is he threw into that one.

Produced another unforced error to add to the tally.

Now he finds himself in a precarious situation.

It seemed like he thought he had this game in the bag, up 40 - zero.

You cannot afford to take your foot off the gas at 2-0 down.

UMPIRE: Advantage Murray. It looks like he will be a the few takes it

out of the bag. Here is break point. -- a thief who takes it.

APPLAUSE An outstanding return of serve that

leads to a break. Perfect timing. Andy Murray won't be relaxing here,

he wants to put this opening-round match to bed. Serving for it.

Another player using the traditional folly. Executed better there, in

this game. -- volley. Goffin they're running out of breath

and running out of time now as well, it is match point. -- there. UMPIRE:

Game set and match. What a perfect start to the defence of his title.

He got a stern test in the first set. He overwhelmed the diminutive

Belgian, he outmuscled him, out for Tim. Andy Murray moves through

swiftly into the second round. -- outfought him. You've experienced

every emotion on Centre Court, what was it like to go out there as the

defending champion? It was nice, I was nervous this morning, I was

nervous yesterday. It brings back a lot of good memories. It was nice to

walk out to a full crowd for the first match. I got a nice round of

applause. When you sit down, it is time to get ready for this year,

move on from last year, trying my best.

The Slovenian is ranked 92 in the world and saw Pablo Andujar of

Spain. Straight sets. Much to his enjoyment, as you can see. We will

talk about Andy Murray being safely through to the second round in a

moment with John and Lindsay in the studio. Clay has not yet been

abandoned officially -- play. But the umbrellas are out. Jurgen Melzer

and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are leaving Court Number One with Tsonga leaving

5-4, with a break in the fifth. If they come back on Weaver let you

know but don't bet on it. Would you bet on Andy Murray? -- we will let

you know. It is good to see you. Would I bet on Andy Murray? I would

bet on him going a good long way. The top four guys you can make an

argument for any of them. A lot of people will. I have picked, if one

of those four does not do it, I believe Grigor Dimitrov is the

person who would be most likely to do it at this stage. He is the most

ready to do it. Potentially, as I respect some of the other players in

the draw, I would love to see that caught play out. With Dimitrov

against Andy Murray. That is for Wednesday week. As far as today was

concerned, court for the first time as

defending champion was it intimidating for you? You are

thinking I'm the man, and please God, don't lose the first round. One

of my opponents when I came out as defending champion, it was heads or

tails, and he couldn't even get the words out. I was like, this guy is

three times as nervous as I am, I've got this, this is great. There are

lots of the nations that go with it. But it is an awesome feeling. --

emotions. The way they do it here is the way to do it. And Lindsay, is

the influence of the coach to early to say? Definitely too early, and he

said we cannot judge her on my results at Wimbledon for the last

few weeks but she has a great demeanour, she has a great vibe, if

you have heard her talking tennis. It looks like they're getting along

well so far but you have to give the relationship 3-4 months to see the

results from the player on court. I've heard they are only working

through Wimbledon. Why is that true? As Lindsay says you need time to

figure this, of all places, the defending champion, will see what

happens. It seems like there is pressure trying to figure this one

out. Is there pressure on the coach? In a way, that's exactly what I'm

saying. The only way she could look at is if he wins it again. She would

look rather amazing if she does when it. Otherwise she is out of fear.

You may be forgiven for thinking there is not life in tennis beyond

Andy Murray but there is. -- out of here. Wimbledon fitful increases

when the main attraction headlines the day, a champion who proves

Britain's got talent even when others fluffed their lines. --

footfall. What of Andy Murray 's home-grown supporting cast in this

theatre of tennis? Them took their bow on opening day, James Ward saw

the curtain fall before act one that really got going, only four players

in the men's draw have more wins on grass than Russia's Mikhail Youzhny

and he showed his pedigree with victory for the loss of just five

games. Stage door for Mr Ward. Dan Cox had more stage presence today.

He fought out to tie-break sets with the Frenchman Jeremy Chardy and 11

of them. -- he won one of them. Dan lost in four, the second round will

be without him. Car Edmund as leading man potential, a Briton with

talent is no question. -- Kyo. Not enough to outshine his Austrian

opponent on Courtois today. A straight sets defeat, his spotlight

may yet find him in future Wimbledons. -- caught 12. Dan Evans

lost the first two sets to Kuznetsov but the Briton starred in New York

and was not about to let the Russian hog all the lines. He won the first

set 6-3 and the drama was brewing. The fourth set went to a tie-break,

but Evans lost it. His was an exciting supporting role to the main

event today, just not a victorious one. A couple of women in action for

Great Britain today, Joanna Conti who played so well at Eastbourne

last week. Came very close to meeting Shuai Peng of China. --

Johanna Konta. Naomi Brady who was stripped of her funding for conduct

unbecoming to the game deserves a huge amount of praise for beating

her Hungarian opponent ranked 70 places above her. Look at that

reaction. -0. These were her thoughts afterwards. -- 6-0. This

time last year I was lucky enough to get a wild card to qualify for

Wimbledon. The week before that I was researching how to become an au

pair and I was going to live in another country somewhere. I was

going for Paris. You can go anywhere. I was going for Paris. I

was looking at doing first aid courses, language courses, to become

on a pair. I couldn't afford to play tennis. Last year I won around

through qualifying which gave me enough money for the next few

tournaments. And finally my wings started coming more, first in the

doubles, which paid for my singles, then I started to do better in

singles. -- the wins. The difference a year can make is amazing, if you

keep going that bit longer you don't know when it is going to switch.

STUDIO: 20 odd thousand pounds makes a difference whatever happens, four

players at that level. You hear these stories a lot from players but

it is so tough for the players outside the top 20 or 30 to make a

living to afford the expenses. This will be a huge payday for her. What

about, there is almost a workers co-operative in tennis at the moment

with the guys at the top saying it is right the people who lose in the

first round and more money because they feel it is better for the

overall Stanford the game. -- dreamt of the game. We have this problem,

the rich and poor gap is getting bigger and bigger, the same is true

in tennis. The truth is, the money is really being made by day I say,

the LTA and the USDA, we could get some of their money to help further

with the disparity in earnings. I hate to raise the subject on the

first day of the championship but for British men losing today, it

would be Andy Murray the only man left about if Dan loses tomorrow.

How many years have we had this conversation? Bob Brett is coming

into the performance guru. What can he bring? He was a disciple of Harry

Hardman, they when he was 14. He has coached some good players, he has a

tall order. We are talking about America trying to advance. We have

the same problem in tennis. The best athletes are going to other sports.

The critical thing is to give more kids an opportunity to play. Make it

more affordable and somehow get your best athletes. We have to make the

sport sexy and try different things. So kids want to play tennis. Didn't

Great Britain gave the USA in the Davis Cup earlier this year? I don't

recall that. LAUGHTER That was plucked from thin air.

Djokovic was playing today that if you blinked you would have missed

him. -- but. COMMENTATOR: Nails are disappearing

already. After seven minutes. Super. Set point.

Game set and match Djokovic. STUDIO: Novak Djokovic in a minute today, he

was in a hurry and looking pretty good. I think in a way he justified

his number one seed, why people pick him as the favourite. He looked

incredible. He has been so close so many times in a row, we feel it is

inevitable he will get through one of these.

He is not as natural a grasscourt player, when there are players such

as Roger Federer. But when he's playing and his best, and best-of-5,

because of forgers advanced age of 32! It makes it more difficult for

him to beat the top guys. -- at Rogers advanced age. Even though

Rafa Nadal deserves number one seed in my book, Djokovic is the best

player on this surface. Great touch at the net as well. He has learned

he had to work on his slice. Which Maris was better. I think he is

getting better. -- Andy Murray. The thing he learned from Rafa Nadal is

he needs to attack more. Nadal to me is the best volley player in the top

hundred. Lindsey raised her eyebrows when you said that. Boris Becker

brings to the table the mental strength of what it takes to win.

He's been in seven Wimbledon final. He knows he has to get Djokovic do

these matches, that he gets stuck in. -- through. When he goes to the

fourth set when he doesn't need to. So he can get through them or can

save himself when he needs to and not get pushback. He is the greatest

return, the two best ever I played, Connors and Agassi. This is the

greatest return that I've ever seen. Who is a better folly? Roger

Federer? -- volley player. Let's leave this for another time.

Kania, ranked 175 places beneath her. But in sport, you never know.

TRACY AUSTIN: She really hit that forehand return with conviction.

Well played! She really is majoring on that forehand of Li. 70% directed

in that way. A to refit put-away. -- a fantastic put-away.

SIMON REED: That did look a little edgy, that one. That is when

inexperience comes in, and it is understandable, serving for the set

against the number two player in the world.

That was a chance, and Li was onto it. 83mph second serve. Too flat

with the return. Again, the confidence to go for it

is admirable. Li toughens up there, but there was

a moment of doubt, and that is all it took, a little smile from Kania.

JOHN INVERDALE:, well, a chance to take that first set squandered, and

here we are, with Kania serving to save the first set.

Li's forehand, which looked very dodgy early on, is now flowing

beautifully. Bit ambitious? No, I think that was

the right play, Li was a couple of feet behind the baseline. She said

the drop shot is one of her favourite shots.

Again, going for the Li forehand, but the accuracy has gone, and here

are two set points for the number two seed.

JOHN INVERDALE: After that, it was almost plain sailing for Li Na.

Second set, 6-2, and this is match point. After the huge

disappointments that she had in Roland Garros, going out early on,

she will be delighted to have got that tough first match out of the

way. Now, amazingly, in 1997, Wimbledon got its first glimpse of

Venus Williams. Venus Williams has lifted the Wimbledon singles title

five times. She will go down as one of the great champions here. But

when debilitating illness forced her out last year, aged 33, we asked,

would we see Venus at Wimbledon again? Today, we got our answer. She

was back, gracing Court No. 2 against her Spanish opponent, and

finding that familiar Wimbledon winning groove. Venus has taken two

titles on her 2014 comeback - what price a glorious run on the grass

she so loves? Victoria Azarenka continued the comeback theme on

Court No. 1, playing just her second match since March. Her foot injury

was effectively sidestepped today, as the eighth seeded player but a

player who was a surprise semifinalist here 13 years ago.

Kimiko Date-Krumm is now 43 and still going strong. Alas, for the

Japanese veteran, not quite strong enough today, up against Ekaterina

Makarova of Russia. Date-Krumm's 25th Wimbledon anniversary ended in

defeat after almost two and a half hours on court. She still has a few

years to go to but this woman, the legend that is Martina Navratilova,

who played singles here aged 47. One suspects Sam Stosur could play until

she is 47 and never quite deliver the performance hotel and should

deliver. The Australian number 17 seed found a tough opponent in

Wickmayer from Belgium. Stosur lost in the Wimbledon first-round for a

sixth time. Kvitova lost in the first round in

her first two Wimbledons, but won it two years later. She won in straight

sets today. We have got the three biggest names

in the women's trawl playing tomorrow, Sharapova, Serena Williams

and Hallett, the coming force in the women's game. What do you make of

this half that we have seen today? There is a lot of room there for

somebody to pull through. Potentially she has a third-round

encounter with Venus, which could be interesting. Li Na was a bit lucky

to get through the first set, she has got to raise her game as well.

The 15th and 23rd seeds got to the final last year - can you see a

repeat of that this year? I would be surprised. Number one, Serena, I

think will be hungrier than she has been for the past year, because of

what happened earlier. But I see people on the rise, like Bouchon.

That is someone to look at. Kvitova seems to have worked herself back

into better shape as well. I hope her and Venus play in the third

round, because it would be a nice way for Venus to go through, if she

wins, and it would be a nice opponent if she did not win. She has

had a much better 2014 then she has had for the previous few years, but

she is getting older, so it is all about recovering, about being

physically 100%. This is going to be her best chance to do well, she has

got to live on her memories, they that great grass court game that we

have seen for many years. But I don't know if you can match her

against those top five players now, it will be a tough ask for Venus. It

is 40 years ago that Bjorn Borg introduced the teen idol element

into things here. And Grigor Dimitrov is the successor to that

crown, Maria Sharapova's boyfriend, and he could be the next big thing

in the world game. So, if things go according to plan, he could almost

find himself in the quarterfinals on Wednesday week, although I am sure

that David Ferrer would have something to say about that. Anyway,

he was playing American qualifier Ryan Harrison today. Here we are at

the business end of the first set. ANDREW CASTLE: Tie-break to decide

the first set. I thought he had been caught out by

the balance, but he just reached for it, showing that lovely control of

the racquet head, found the ball, and hit the winner.

PETER FLEMING: And perhaps, the way Dimitrov has been serving, that

mini-break might be enough. Only the fifth point against the

Dimitrov serve. Credit once again to the competitive instinct of Ryan

Harrison. Well, it looks like this tie-break

is going to Dimitrov, at 5-1, he would be expected to win. So, he has

come through the fire, and much will depend on how Ryan Harrison of the

United States response to this. Because Dimitrov has upped his game,

right from his first return on the second point of the tie-break.

And that is wide as well. This has gone south quickly for him, hasn't

it? Yes, when you are serving in a game, the opponent has to win at

least four points to get the break. In a tie-break, one mini-break, two

perhaps, is all that is required. First set to Grigor Dimitrov. A

one-sided tie-break after a very even 12 games.

JOHN INVERDALE: The match itself became a bit more one-sided after

that. Dimitrov took the second set by 6-3, and here is leading 5-2 in

the third. He has not played badly, by any

means. Oh, he just about had his hand out

to shake hands, and he has missed it! He played virtually perfect

point of. Again, well done Harrison. In

around. And perhaps Dimitrov needed to just charge that volley a little

more. Oh, do you know what? It has been a

magnificent performance, a really superb effort. Ryan Harrison played

his part in that match, but what a match. If we don't see a lot of

Grigor Dimitrov at these Championships, I think it would be a

huge surprise. Quite brilliant at times.

Yes, it is a great feeling coming out on that court. It brings back a

lot of good memories for me, what a great day to be out on the grass. A

great court, great atmosphere. In terms of confidence, a real boost,

to win in three sets? I think it is really important early on in the

tournament to have a decent match, just to play your game. It is

important how you start. I am looking forward to the next round.

Given what you have already achieved in London, you had the perfect

build-up at Queen's, didn't you? Exactly, it was a great feeling for

me to win that title and it gives me a lot of confidence, but that is now

in the past. I appreciate that title, but now we are at Wimbledon.

Actually, there is no more play today, I can confirm. That means the

likes of Querrey and Radwanska and Wozniacki will have to be

rescheduled for tomorrow. A quick word about Dimitrov, who is on a

roll at the moment? Roger Federer was sort of late Bloomer, and he got

17. We have been waiting for years, so I have got to hand it to Roger

Rasheed, because he has picked the right guys at the right time, but

this seems to be a match made in heaven. I think he finally convinced

Grigor that he needed to get first of all, in shape, because he was

cramping in the Majors, he could not go the distance, but now it seems

like he is ready to make that next step. I do not know if he has ever

got past the second round here, so he has got a lot to prove and a

long, long way to go. Lindsay, we were talking about his potential

draw, and it is very difficult. But when you saw some of those examples

of his touch at the net, and his beautiful, flowing groundstrokes,

with the right attitude, it is a winning package. If he had the

looks, he would be all right. He has it all on the court. But when you

watch him come in, that is what makes him so good on grass, that he

is comfortable coming forward. Jon alluded to his conditioning. If you

look at him to end a half years ago, you can see how much hard work he

has done off the court to put himself in a position to be

successful in these five set matches. Let's see what else

happened in the menstrual today. Remember Fernando Verdasco, the

would-be party pooper, from last year? -- in the men's draw. Today,

he fell, beaten by the shy and retiring Australian Matosevic. Tomas

Berdych has done well here before, and today, he dropped the first set

to the Romanian Hanescu, before coming through in four. There was

uninjured ball girl on Court No. 3. But David Ferrer was not

distracted. Marin Cilic is a former Queen's champion. He likes the

grass, and he loves victory. He beat his French opponent in four sets.

This match was an entertaining five setter. The flamboyant Italian

produced histrionics of historic proportions, as he came back to take

the deciding set 9-7. It is never dull when Fognini is on court! John

McEnroe threw a spanner in the works over the weekend, when he said he

thought tennis ought to experiment without umpires and lines judges

because he thought it would make it more entertaining and might bring

some controversy back into the game. I suspect it might have been a bit

tongue in cheek, but everybody today at the press conferences has been

asking the players what they thought of it. Some took it seriously, some

took it less seriously. This is what Andy I don't know, with Hawk-eye and

stuff, it could work. But I do not know any sports that do not play

without umpires and lines people. I think every single sport does,

because things come up in matches, and sometimes you need someone other

than just the opponent to talk to about it. I do not see that

changing. But the one player who you could guarantee was going to take

things off at a ludicrous tangent was the normal 12 seed from Latvia.

Get rid of umpires?! My God! I thought you said vampires! Vampires,

surrounding players and sucking the energy out of them, that is what I

thought you meant. That would be a better comparison! Umpires, no,

without umpires, it would not work. He is just fantastic! How much of

your tongue was in your cheek, when you said that? Listen, not all of

it, by any means. You have an umpire to call the score, and there are

certain things where perhaps you need an umpire, foot faults and

certain things. But if you have the technology where every call can be

made, I think it would bring back a lot more interest and a lot more fan

reaction if players were making the calls. There would be a lot of

cheating, wouldn't there? You could use the challenge system. How

embarrassing would it be if you tried to cheat on purpose and you

were found out? You would be less amenable to doing it again,

correct? And there would be a lot more people going, you cheat! And

the players would be yelling at each other. Listen, I am old school.

Jimmy Connors and myself, I hear he is coming in... I cannot wait for

that, number one. But we were not exactly, hello, how are you?

Lindsay, what do you think, help me out here! Do we need umpires? You

don't need anybody to call the score, there is a scoreboard! You're

telling me I have got to about my game, AND calling the lines?! It

would get more money into it. You only have to watch junior tennis,

where the players call their own lines, and cheating is endemic,

throughout the whole sport. How many junior matches do you know of that

have the challenge system? Zero, OK. Listen, we have just got to think of

things outside the box. Here is another one - we should not warm up.

That is not that radical, is it? No, boxers do not go into the ring and

do that for ten minutes, do they? No, and the first punch, you could

knock someone unconscious, right? Do we need that? Just a thought. It is

a good thought. And this is what you could be seeing tomorrow if you come

to Wimbledon. Is that a real shot? Goodness me, that is one of the

great sunsets. Look out the window, wherever you are!

great sunsets. Look out the window, wherever you are!

I am sure we would welcome any contributions about how tennis could

improve itself, change itself, and we will return to those subject 's

over the next two weeks. I do not believe that is a real sunset, I

really do not. That was taken from Hawaii. 10.35 tonight, when Andy won

Wimbledon, and he won today, so, by my mathematics, he is currently 14%

of the way towards retaining his title.

# Sweet dreams are made of this. # Who am I to disagree?

# Everybody's looking for something. # Sweet dreams are made of this.

# Who am I to disagree? # Travel the world and the seven

Seas. # Everybody's looking for something.

..just to keep them from each other...