In the 19^th all-British men’s singles match at Wimbledon in the Open Era and first since 2017 (Kyle Edmund vs Alex Ward), Murray defeated the British wild card in two hours and three minutes to move just one win away from 200 Grand Slam victories.

"It's amazing to be back here playing on Centre Court," Murray said. "I started off quite nervous but once I got the break I played some good stuff as the match went on.

"It’s been a long time since I’ve felt physically this good coming into Wimbledon, which is positive. The last few years have been very challenging but I’m hoping I’m fit and ready for a good run."

Murray admitted to feeling the nerves in the early stages of his 15th campiagn at Wimbledon, which may have had something to do with a former rival in the crowd - eight-time champion Roger Federer.

"It was amazing having royalty here but also tennis royalty as well," he said in his on court interview. "It’s amazing having Roger here and supporting this event. Last time I was here, and he was watching it was at the Olympics and he was stood in Stan Wawrinka’s box and was supporting against me, so it was nice to see a couple of claps today after some good shots. It’s amazing to see you and I hope you’re doing well Roger, Mirka and your parents as well."

The Lexus Surbiton Trophy and Rothesay Open Nottingham champion has now made it to the second round at Wimbledon at each of his 15 appearances at SW19.

In round two, the 36-year-old will face the winner of Dominic Thiem vs fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas. Thiem and Tsistipas’s match today was interrupted by persistent rain, with the Austrian leading 6-3, 3-4, on serve.

Peniston got the better of the two-time champion through much of the opening exchanges but failed to capitalise on break point opportunities at 1-1 and 2-2. He looked comfortable out on Centre Court having lost just one of his opening 11 points on serve, but two costly errors set Murray up to take the opening break for himself.  

Once he had the upper-hand, Murray took complete control and dominated Peniston’s second serve – winning nine of 11 points in the second set. While Peniston competed well in long games, he continued to finish on the wrong side of the result as Murray broke four times in a row to win nine consecutive games.

Peniston battled through until the end, but in the end Murray proved too clinical. Moving well on his favourite court in the world, the Brit won all 17 of his points coming into the net and kept his efficiency when attacking from all areas of the court. He'll be pleased to round off his opening match in three sets, finishing with a seventh and final break of serve.

Meanwhile, there wasn’t much action around the grounds at Wimbledon today before the rain settled in. George Loffhagen narrowly lost an opening set tie-break to sixth seed Holger Rune, while Katie Boulter was forced off court at 5-6, with serve, against Daria Saville.