When the new, more mature Andy Murray gets his act together, it is a magical game. Andy Murray has been training to peak at Wimbledon and his victory at Eastboune last week may foretell a positive run on the grass in London.

Andy Murray In Action During First Round Match At Wimbledon 2011

On day one, Murray dropped the first set to Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver but overcame his nerves and settled in quite nicely.  Murray used his deft touch to his cylinders firing in the 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-0.  In the last two sets, Murray looked like a serious contender for his first Grand Slam.

Top seed Rafa Nadal had no problems with the USA’s Michael Russell.  The Spaniard and defending champion played efficiently and cruised past the veteran opponent.  Nadal will next face young American Ryan Sweeting who gutted out a five set match against Pablo Andujar.  Sweeting has been playing well and came back from two sets down to notch the first round win 3-6, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (1), 6-1.  The American will have to be ready from the start against Nadal or the match may be over before it begins.

The sixth seed and runner-up in last year’s event, Tomaz Berdych, sailed past Italy’s Filippo Volandri, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1.  This has been a subpar year for Berdych and the switch to grass may work well for the Czech.

Milos Raonic of Canada brushed aside Marc Giquel, 6-3, 7-6 (1), 6-3.  Raonic will next face France’s Gilles Muller.  The Canadian will be a tough out for anyone because he has the offensive firepower to really do some damage.

Brazil’s Tomaz Bellucci, the 30^th seed fell surprisingly to unheralded German Ranier Schuettler 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-3.  Bellucci was never really in the match and struggled with the grass.  The Brazilian is headed for the top 20 but cannot string wins together.

Veera Zvonareva and Venus Move On

The 23^rd seed had too much of everything for challenger Akgul Amanmuradova, 6-3, 6-1.  Venus Williams has not lost anything on her serve.  She had too much experience and too much power for Agkul.  In the second round, Venus will look to have her big game on track against Kimiko Deate-Krumm.

Second seed, Vera Zvonareva had her hands full with American Alison Riske.  In the two hour fifteen minute 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 match, Both players went through streaks.  Vera will have to be more consistent. Christina McHale surprised Ekaterina Makarova, 2-6, 6-1, 8-6. Makarova was expected to get out front and roll but McHale is playing more confidently than last year.

In the day’s biggest upset, Kesnina Pervak of Russia put the wood to 22^nd seed Shahar Peer.  The Israeli usually comes up big in grand slams but this year her young opponent had too much staying power.

Many big name players hit the courts tomorrow. All eyes will be on the Isner – Mahut match who played the longest match in history at last year’s Wimbledon.