TENNIS
Wimbledon: Murray brushes Lu aside to surge into third round
The Scot saw off Taiwan's Lu Yen-Hsun in straight sets on Thursday and will take on Australia's John Millman for a last-16 spot at SW19.
Andy Murray maintained his bid for a second Wimbledon crown as the British number one swept past Taiwan's Lu Yen-Hsun 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 on Thursday.
Murray had dismissed fellow Brit Liam Broady in ruthless fashion in his opening match, and the 2013 champion was in equally dominant mood as he out-classed Lu in the pair's second-round clash.
He hit 31 winners and served six aces in a Centre Court masterclass lasting just over 90 minutes and will face Australian world number 67 John Millman for a place in the last 16.
As he aims to wrestle the title away from Novak Djokovic, the 29-year-old's powerful display could be a good omen as he also beat Lu in 2013 en route to becoming the first British man to win Wimbledon for 77 years.
"There were a lot of close games in the first set, but once I managed to hang on there I settled down," Murray said.
"Towards the end of the second I started hitting the ball much cleaner and was more comfortable.
"There were a few rain drops and you start to see the groundsmen coming to the edge of the court. Thankfully I had a decent lead. I was quite anxious to get off.
"It's been a good start. If you can win matches easily it does help, you get more rest and mentally the days aren't so draining."
Lu famously defeated Murray at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the world number 76's best Grand Slam performance came at Wimbledon when he made the quarter-finals six year ago.
The 32-year-old was on an impressive 11-match winning streak on grass that brought him two second-tier Challenger titles in Ilkley and Surbiton.
Murray had never been knocked out before the third round in all 10 of his previous Wimbledon appearances and hadn't lost to a player ranked as low as Lu at a major since he fell to Arnaud Clement at the 2005 US Open.
Although Murray was broken in the first game and trailed 3-1, he quickly regained the upper hand, reeling off five successive games to take the opening set.
The Scot pressed home his advantage in the second set and Lu was looking completely disoriented by the time he surged through the third in commanding style.