“I'm playing well enough to beat most of the players, I think, in the draw if I play well. Physically, I feel good. Yeah, physically I feel absolutely fine right now.”

These words are music to the ears of Andy Murray fans and fans of the sport, in general. They came after his 6-3 6-0 6-1 win on Centre Court against fellow Brit Ryan Peniston on Tuesday. Murray moved around the grass court and competed on the big stage at a level we haven’t witnessed in quite some time.

After contemplating retirement in 2019, the Scot has recovered from a hip resurfacing operation and now plays with a metal cap covering the top of his femur. Walking with this injury would be a challenge for many but Murray’s will to compete has brought him to this point.

“I was quite nervous at the beginning, and I wanted to play well but once I got the break in that first set I think I played some good stuff,” Murray said after his first-round match. “There were good signs there.”

Credit: EPA

Later, when asked by ESPN’s Patrick McEnroe what a deep run at Wimbledon would be for him, Murray said “semifinals” without hesitation.

For a good portion of the last several years, the 36-year-old has struggled on the court with obvious signs of pain, often appearing to be at the end of his rope. Since his 2017 quarterfinal run, Murray had missed 3 of the last 5 Wimbledon Championships prior to this one (including the 2020 covid year), and his best result was the 3rd round in 2021.

But this year feels different, and while it is a very small sample size thus far at Wimbledon, one must be optimistic after he won two pre-Wimbledon warmup tournaments followed by his first-round performance at SW19.

Even with the home crowd behind him, it will be an extremely difficult task ahead however, and he will likely need to play at an even higher level in the second round where he will face either Stefanos Tsitsipas or Dominic Thiem. But one thing goes without saying; Andy Murray never backs down from a challenge and will compete with everything he has left in his arsenal. That is a given, and it is in his DNA.