It was a day of tears for some, cheers for others - well done Andy Murray and Elena Baltacha - and, in that sense, was like every other day in the history of these Championships.

Tennis is a brutal sport and it does not get any less bruising just because it is played in surroundings which please the eye and remind everyone that Britain is capable of producing a convincing summer’s day from time to time. The highs, however, are quite something.

Andy Murray’s four-set win over able grass-courter Robert Kendrick lifted the spirits by some margin and sent those who waited on Henman Hill, armed with the remnants of their picnics and plenty of expectation.

Murray, looking somehow younger and older at the same time with his clipped hair, collared shirt and retro shorts, will probably play better over the course of the next fortnight but he did what was required, when it was required.

Those who like to look outside the favourites for names who might cause trouble in the draw will have noted the first round win of Ernests Gulbis, Murray’s next opponent, one of the more gifted young players to emerge onto the ATP Tour in the last few seasons.

Gulbis beat Riccardo Ghedin in three sets. “I'm not going to start worrying about reaching the final yet,” said Murray. “I need to focus on the next match.  I've got a very tough opponent.  Gulbis has caused some upsets in the past and is a huge hitter of the ball.  I'm going to need to be on my game to beat him.”

Andy Roddick’s ankle, which he twisted during the AEGON Championships at Queen’s Club, survived its first test and he got past talented Frenchman Jeremy Chardy for the loss of a set but nothing more drastic. Roddick plays Igor Kunitsyn next, who beat last year’s Junior Wimby champ, Grigor Dimitrov.

The biggest upset of the day was Marat Safin’s four set loss to 133rd ranked qualifier, Jesse Levine. Safin, who is retiring at the end of the year, said that he was 'relived' that this was his last Wimbledon

“It was not really my day but anyway, that is life. My best Wimbledon memories are against Ivanisevic in 2001 - I had a chance to win - and last year against Djokovic.” Adding that he "Won't think at all about tennis for a couple of years. I think eventually I will have something at the back of my mind I will still think about it, but not straight away."

2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt was more efficient, setting up what should be an interesting second round meeting with Juan-Martin Del Potro after a relatively easy win over American Robby Ginepri.

Other results saw wins for Fernando Gonzalez, Tommy Haas, David Ferrer, Gilles Simon, Stanislas Warwinka, Nikolay Davydenko,Victor Hanescu, Tomas Berdych, Jurgen Melzer, Radek Stepanek and Victor Troiki.

Defending women’s champion Venus Williams romped into the second round and was joined there by Dinara Safina, Caroline Wozniacki, Amelie Mauresmo, Ana Ivanovic, Jalena Jankovic, Li, Na, Vera Zvonarevan and Agnieska Radwanska.

Take notice too of Samantha Stosur, who was a semi-finalist at Roland Garros and is more than capable of doing further damage to more celebrated names on grass.

The last word, though, has to go to our own Elena Baltacha, whose hard-fought win over Alona Bondarenko, who at 33 in the rankings is 73 places above the Brit, lit up the evening gloom on No.1 Court and restored a little faith.

“You know, it was so lovely.  Like I really tried hard to kind of control my emotion, because everyone was getting up,” said Bally. “Everyone was clapping, you know.  I had goose pimples pretty much everywhere.  You know, the hair on the back of my neck was standing up. It was really difficult for me to kind of try and contain that, and I think I did a good job of that.”

For all of the days results click here
Information from LTA.org.uk