Andy Murray made the debut of new coach Amelie Mauresmo a good one with an opening round win over Paul-Henri Mathieu at Queen’s. The 6-4, 6-4 win over the Frenchman was Murray’s 19th straight on grass, a streak that began at the 2012 London Olympics. But all the attention was on the new partnership with Mauresmo.
“We spoke a bit about the match and the tactics and then chatted a little bit afterwards,” Murray said. “But this week there’s not going to be any big changes in my game. I also wouldn’t expect any before Wimbledon.
“We’ll definitely work on some things after the tournament is finished here. We will chat about the stuff that I will be working on over the next few days, and then when I get the chance to after the tournament is finished here, I’ll get four or five days of practice where I can work on some things.”
Murray will now meet tour veteran Radek Stepanek.
Meeting a quick end were former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt who was sent off by Feliciano Lopez and French Open semifinalist Ernests Gulbis who was upset by Kenny De Schepper 7-6, 7-5.
“Honestly I didn’t feel I played that bad,” said the 10th-ranked Gulbis. “I hit the ball pretty well on the racquet. Moving was bad, but he served incredible. I mean, I had six break points the first set. You have to give the guy credit. He served really, really well in important points. What can I do?”
Stan Wawrinka, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Sergei Stakhovsky were also winners.
Tomorrow in Halle, tennis greats Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal open their grass campaigns. The six-time champion Federer faces Joao Sousa while Nadal locks up with Dustin Brown seeking his 700th career match win.
“That’s a dangerous draw,” Nadal said today. “It’s not the perfect entry into the tournament because Dustin is such a tough opponent. You never know what to expect with him. He plays with a lot of inspiration, very aggressively. It’s going to be a really big challenge for me.”
THURSDAY QUEEN’S SCHEDULE
CENTRE COURT start 12:30 pm
A Mannarino (FRA) vs [2] T Berdych (CZE)
[15] R Stepanek (CZE) vs [3] A Murray (GBR)
[1] [WC] S Wawrinka (SUI) vs S Querrey (USA)
M Matosevic (AUS) vs [5] J Tsonga (FRA)
[1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) vs J Murray (GBR) / J Peers (AUS)
THURSDAY HALLE SCHEDULE
STADIUM start 12:00 noon
J Sousa (POR) vs [2] R Federer (SUI)
I Karlovic (CRO) vs Y Lu (TPE)
S Johnson (USA) vs T Gabashvili (RUS)
Not Before 5:30 pm
[1] R Nadal (ESP) vs [WC] D Brown (GER)
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