Andy Murray credited new coach Amelie Mauresmo with helping to quash his nerves as the champion kicked off his Wimbledon title defence with a 6-1, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Belgium’s David Goffin.
Murray, attempting to become the first British man to successfully defend the Wimbledon title since Fred Perry in 1936, was riddled with anxiety ahead of the opening match of the tournament on Monday.
But he was able to deal with the bout of pre-match tension thanks to some words of wisdom from Mauresmo.
The Frenchwoman’s surprise appointment as Murray’s coach earlier this month has been questioned by some in the tennis world, but the 2006 Wimbledon winner has already begun to prove the critics wrong according to her new employer.
With Murray concerned about how he would cope with his first match back at Wimbledon since his historic final victory over Novak Djokovic last year, the 27-year-old was able to take inspiration from Mauresmo’s advice during a dinner last week.
“I was nervous. I was probably a bit more nervous yesterday than I was today,” Murray said.
“We went to dinner on the Wednesday. And I spoke to her a little bit about it and asked her how she dealt with it.
“One of the things she said was she tried to take in the atmosphere and the experience of walking out on the court as the defending champion. You never know if you’ll get the chance to do it again.
“She has quite clear memories of doing that herself. So that was one of the things she told me to try and do.
“We talked about the other things that come with it, as well. Obviously, the extra pressure and stuff. That’s natural to talk to your coach about something like that.”
Murray was also helped by the rapturous reception he received from the packed Centre Court crowd when he first emerged into the arena.
The world number five was given a lengthy standing ovation and he fed off the adrenaline rush, crushing Goffin in the first set and easily setting up a second round clash against Slovenia’s Blaz Rola.
“To come to the court and get that reception, yeah, it was very nice,” Murray said.
“I think the crowd was pretty much full from the start. It was great. I enjoyed it for the walk to the chair. Then when I sat down, it was time to get on with business.”
Murray’s victory extended his winning run at the All England Club to 14 matches, a sequence which brought him the Olympics singles gold medal in 2012 and the Wimbledon crown last year.
He has also won 20 of his last 21 matches on grass courts, with the only defeat coming at Queen’s Club against Radek Stepanek earlier this month.
That setback in the Wimbledon warm-up event had raised fears Murray may struggle to mount a serious challenge to retain his crown.
Troubled by a back injury that needed surgery last year and vexed by his split with coach Ivan Lendl in March, Murray has failed to reach a final since winning Wimbledon.
But the lawns of south-west London have always brought out the best in Murray, who has reached at least the semi-finals for the last five years.
Murray had never lost to a player ranked as low as Goffin at a Grand Slam and he laid down a marker by breaking in the second game and took the first set in less than half an hour.
Goffin recovered his composure well enough to push Murray a little harder in the next two sets, but the Scot’s extra class shone through at the crucial moments and he eased to his 450th Tour-level victory with few alarms.