In the end Andy Murray was predictably untroubled on a scalding Centre Court transformed by the mid-afternoon glare into a suntrap of Death Valley proportions. This was an agreeably low key straight-sets first-round defeat of Mikhail Kukushkin by the No3 seed, on an afternoon when there was if anything an absence of other more familiar kinds of heat.
Murray performed well enough against an opponent who came here to play, offering in glimpses the full range of his deep defence and well-timed attack. Perhaps the most interesting part of a fairly routine 6-4, 7-6, 6-4 victory, however, was the lack of intrusion from the fringes.