Wimbledon Day 1 results, news: Andy Murray uses Nick Kyrgios tactic to beat James Duckworth

British great Andy Murray wiped out an Australian opponent - and then hit out over criticism of a ‘disrespectful’ tactic that is straight out of the Nick Kyrgios playbook.

Britain's Andy Murray celebrates beating Australia's James Duckworth. Picture: AFP

Andy Murray has come out swinging at the critics of underarm serves - a favourite trick used by Nick Kyrgios - after he deployed the same tactic to beat brave Aussie James Duckworth on the first day of the Wimbledon tennis championships.

A two-time winner, Murray has never lost a first-round match at the All England club and kept his perfect record intact with a 4-6 6-3 6-3 6-4 win over Duckworth, but not before shocking his most fanatical supporters.

The Scotsman, who has been battling an abdominal injury, came back from losing the first set to win a tense centre court that ended under floodlights after he caught his opponent napping with an underarm serve in the third set that stunned the crowd and left everyone wondering what to make of it.

“Well, he changed his return position. That’s why I did it,” Murray explained.

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.@andy_murray’s underarm serve. pic.twitter.com/DWsIsNn9EW

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“He was standing very close to return. He was struggling a little bit on the first-serve return, so he stepped probably two metres further back. As soon as I saw him step further back, I threw the underarm serve in.

“I personally have no issue with players using it. I never have. Certainly more and more players have started returning from further, further behind the baseline now to give themselves an advantage to return.

“The underarm serve is a way of saying, ‘if you’re going to step back there, then I’m going to possibly throw that in’.”

Britain's Andy Murray celebrates beating Australia's James Duckworth. Picture: AFP

Although underarm serves are allowed under the rules of tennis, critics have said it is unsportsmanlike and disrespectful, but Murray disputes that idea.

“I don’t know why people have ever found it potentially disrespectful or... I don’t know. I’ve never understood that. It’s a legitimate way of serving,” he said.

“I would never use an underarm serve if someone was standing on the baseline because I think it’s a stupid idea because they’re going to track it down and it’s easy to get.

“If they stand four or five metres behind the baseline, then why would you not do that to try to bring them forward if they’re not comfortable returning there? Tactically it’s a smart play.

“No one says it’s disrespectful for someone to return from six metres, whatever, five metres behind the baseline to try to get an advantage.

“So I used it not to be disrespectful to him but to say, If you’re going to step further back to return the serve to give yourself more time, then I’m going to exploit that.”

AUSSIES STRUGGLE IN DAY ONE CARNAGE

Dispelling the age-old myth that Australians are more at home on grass than any other surface, just one of the five Aussies who completed their matches on Monday came out victorious.

London’s fickle weather forced play to be stripped on the outside courts for hours and some matches to be postponed until Tuesday.

The only Aussie winner was Thanasi Kokkinakis, who beat Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak 7-6 6-2 7-5.

“I‘m super happy with how the result panned out,” Kokkinankis said.

“I had a lot of doubt coming into the tournament. Wasn‘t sure how I’d pull up.

“To get it done especially in straight sets, for my first win at Wimbledon, couldn’t be happier.”

Thanasi Kokkinakis was the sole Australian to taste success on the opening day of Wimbledon action. Picture: Getty

Max Purcell made it through the qualifiers to get into the main draw and was unlucky not to beat Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, going down 6-3 7-6 4-6 4-6 6-4.

“I definitely feel I should have walked off that court the winner, but shit happens I guess,” Purcell said.

“I guess just inexperience, and I‘ll just try to work on playing more matches, and focusing a little bit more on singles when I can to make sure that I do finish those matches off.

“I’ve never played on actual grass before, just synthetic grass? That‘s all I ever played on.

“I just love the idea of playing on grass. That‘s why I think all of us Aussies do.

“And the history of the tournament, and the fact that tennis only ever used to be played on grass. Now it‘s just shit because everything’s played on clay.

“No-one‘s going to practice on grass. There’s four weeks of the year to play, so even if we have a billion grass courts in Sydney there’s no point in using them.”

HOW THE AUSSIES FARED ON DAY ONE AT WIMBLEDON

Men’s singles

Thanasi Kokkinakis (Australia) def Kamil Majchrzak (Poland) 7-6 6-2 7-5

Adrian Mannarino (France) def. Max Purcell (Australia) 6-3 7-6 4-6 4-6 6-4

25-Miomir Kecmanovic (Serbia) def. John Millman (Australia) 6-3 2-6 6-3 6-4

Andy Murray (Britain) def. James Duckworth (Australia) 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-4

Women‘s singles

Dalma Galfi (Hungary) def. Maddison Inglis (Australia) 5-7 6-3 6-4

Astra Sharma v Tatjana Maria (Germany) 6-4 3-6 suspended

Originally published as Wimbledon Day 1 results, news: Andy Murray uses Nick Kyrgios tactic to beat James Duckworth