Andy Murray is up and running at Wimbledon – with just a hint of a carthorse hobble – and, after an highly entertaining win against the world No135, Alexander Bublik, on Centre Court, declared himself “really positive” about defending his title. However, the man who some thought might challenge him for his No1 crown, the fifth seed, Stan Wawrinka, was knocked out in the first round by Daniil Medvedev in four sets.

“First match at a slam, there’s always a few extra nerves,” Murray said after winning 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 on day one in an hour and 44 minutes in which the sore hip that interrupted his preparation last week appeared to hold up under the pressure of countering a carefree young opponent who constantly switched the direction and depth of his groundstrokes.

Murray, who plays the similarly unorthodox Dustin Brown in the second round on Wednesday, added: “Once I got out there and got the early break, saved a few break points in my first service game, I felt good. Considering how I was feeling five, six days ago, it was really positive.”

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He did appear to walk stiffly between points, though, and said: “I don’t know if that’s something that’s come over the last couple of weeks when my hip’s been sore. I’ve always done it and everyone is sort of saying that I’m walking that way because of my hip. I’m not in a lot of pain when I’m walking, that’s for sure. I’m certainly not hurting between the points. My hip felt good. It’s a little bit sore but I was moving really good today.”

Murray revealed that he and Bublik, a 20-year-old part-time rapper from St Petersburg who defected to Kazakhstan for tennis purposes after being denied Russian funding, chatted during a brief rain break at the start of the third set.

“Before I got interviewed by him in Indian Wells earlier in the year [for the ATP website], I asked him how his match had gone. He said: ‘Oh, I served like 20 double faults.’ In the interview he asked me if I had any advice for him. I said, ‘Try not to serve 20 double faults.’

“Then he said to me just before we went on [on Monday]: ‘Yeah, thanks for the advice about not serving 20 double faults.’ I said: ‘You served a few.’ He said: ‘Yeah, I think I’m only on about 10 right now.’ I said: ‘Well, there’s still time to get to 20.’ It was just funny. It’s rare that you speak to someone, like, during a match.”

If that anecdote reflects how relaxed Murray is after a stressful couple of weeks – and a troublesome season of illness, injury and mixed results – he knows the pressure will build. He and Brown – who came from behind to beat the Portuguese João Sousa in four sets – have played only once, when Murray defeated him at the US Open seven years ago. “He plays a similar way in terms of being pretty unpredictable, going for different shots, a lot of power,” Murray said.

“Dustin plays a lot more up at the net than Bublik. He tends to come out with some great shots. Very entertaining guy to watch. He’s a great mover. Really, really good athlete. He’s a good personality, as well. Always fun, fun guy to watch. We get on well. We message each other from time to time. I like him. He’s really, really a nice guy.

“I expect him to be very aggressive. I think he’ll come forward a lot. He’s unpredictable. You know he’s going to go for it. Also you know he hits a lot of drop-shots. He can play slice. Sometimes he hits two first serves, goes for a huge second serve.” Brown beat Rafael Nadal in the second round in 2015.

Wawrinka was beaten 4-6, 6-3, 4-6, 1-6 by Medvedev and was the second high-profile exit in the men’s draw after Nick Kyrgios retired injured while losing 3-6, 4-6 to Pierre-Hugues Herbert.