Andy Murray maintained his unbeaten record in the first round of Wimbledon with an encouraging victory over British colleague Ryan Peniston.

Two-time champion Murray, ranked 40 in the world, started slow against wildcard Peniston on Center Court.

But the Scotsman showed more of his class when he took early break points, before taking the lead to win 6-3, 6-0, 6-1.

British number one Cameron Norrie, who reached the semi-finals last year, won 6-3 4-6 6-1 6-4 over Czech Tomas Machac.

Murray and Peniston, who placed 268, were among the few players able to complete their first matches on Tuesday, with the all-England match taking place under the roof of Center Court.

Then, when the last rain of the second day fell on the roof of Court One, 12th seed Norrie put through a tough test against Machac in qualifying.

The 27-year-old’s home side’s hopes produced a major performance as he began his bid to replicate the best Grand Slam performance of his career.

Both Norrie and Murray, who could face each other in round 4, are still waiting to find their next opponent.

Norrie will face Christopher Eubanks of the United States or Thiago Monteiro of Brazil, while Murray, 36, will face Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or US Open 2020 champion Dominic Thiem.

Those competitions were among many matches scheduled for Tuesday but canceled due to heavy and prolonged downpours in south-west London.

England colleagues Katie Boulter and George Loffhagen started their matches in the morning before being forced off the pitch outside shortly after 12:00 BST.

The match was suspended for several hours, and with the weather forecast not to improve much for the rest of the evening, virtually all other matches for the day were postponed.

Another Briton, 27th seed Dan Evans, was able to return to the field, continuing to Central Court at around 19:30 BST to close out the match against Quentin Halys of France.

Evans, 33, led 6-2 6-3 in a game that started late on Monday but was moved to Tuesday because of dimming lights.

The former world number one, who had his career saved by tucking a metal cap on his hip in 2019, said he was as physically and mentally prepared as he has been in recent years.

As one of the most experienced players on grass, a surface many younger opponents on the ATP Tour have struggled to overcome, is also a positive point he has pointed to.

Knowing how to move on the pitch helped Murray win back titles at Surbiton and Nottingham earlier in the summer in England, albeit at a lower level on the main tour.

The humiliating defeat to Australia’s Alex de Minaur at Queen’s did not discourage him, the Scottish tennis player insists there is nothing to panic.

Losing to a fellow Englishman he was supposed to overcome would be unsettling, but after a slow start he has run into some problems.

Losing just four games was Murray’s second convincing win at Wimbledon, following a 6-1 6-1 6-0 win over Slovenia’s Blaz Rola in 2014.

Murray, who also lifted the Wimbledon trophy in 2016, said: “At first I was quite nervous and I wanted to play well but when I got the break in the first set I thought I played well.

“There are good signs there.”

Peniston, 27, made his debut on the most famous tennis court, although he was there as a fan in 2015 to watch fellow Brit Heather Watson push the top seed Serena Williams in a horror movie.

Coming back this time as a player, against the iconic name of British tennis, is a completely different scenario.

Peniston proved undaunted in the opening stages and was the better player to create two break points against Murray.

Murray particularly struggled with his forehand, allowing a foul from that flank, but showed problem solving and survival before the start of the set.

The Scot started to find more rhythm, allowing him to release more power and put Peniston under heavy pressure.

The left-hander from Essex took only 36% of the points in the second set one-way, Murray continued to show his ruthlessness in the third set, where he also broke serve three times.

As Peniston pushed a long forehand into Murray’s second match point, Murray shook hands silently and respectfully before sharing a warm hug with an opponent who has become friends in recent years.