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Andy Murray launches Olympic title defence in convincing style

Murray, who has not lost an Olympic singles match since his shock first round defeat in Beijing eight years ago, next faces Argentina’s Juan Monaco.

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Britain’s Andy Murray beat Serbia’s Viktor Troicki 6-3 6-2 to progress to the second round at the Rio Olympics.

The 29-year-old revealed he was feeling apprehensive before the clash, having not played since his Wimbledon triumph at the end of June.

A run of five games in a row took him to the brink of victory and he clinched the win on his first match point after an hour and 23 minutes.

The heat of the first day’s play had been replaced by cool, blustery conditions, with the wind so strong that play on some outside courts was delayed for more than two hours for safety reasons.

“And it was tricky conditions too, it was a bit windy”.

“It was a good start in hard conditions and I am happy with how I did”.

Murray has garnered a lot of attention at the Games and not just because of his status as one of the world’s best tennis players but also for leading in Team GB at the Opening Ceremony.

“It was alright, it is not that heavy, but obviously it’s quite a long lever when it moves around a little bit”. I met Kevin Durant, the basketball player, on the way in, which for me was nice because I’m a big basketball fan.

Millie Curtis walked alongside flag-bearer Andy Murray for the spectacular ceremony in the Maracana Stadium broadcast around the world to an estimated audience of three billion people.

Asked what the princess told him, Murray replied: “I think she said: ‘Just make sure you don’t poke my eye out, ‘ or something along those lines”.

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“In the village, being around the British athletes and chatting and watching and supporting them there, has been really nice”.

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Andy Murray serves Viktor Troicki during their men's first round singles tennis match at the Olympic Tennis Centre