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Serena Williams and Andy Murray are not ready for the exhibition tour just yet, but their smiles and laughter lent Centre Court an old-fashioned carnival atmosphere on Saturday evening as they enjoyed the occasion as much as the result to win their first mixed doubles match together.

On a day when Fabio Fognini outdid himself by calling for Wimbledon to be bombed (seriously), and two days after Bernard Tomic had to surrender his first-round purse for not trying, it was a joyous counterpoint, a night of nostalgia and the flowering of an historic association that might yet last all the way to the last match of the fortnight – with four more serious examinations to come first.

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They next play the 14th seeds, Fabrice Martin and Raquel Atawo. Asked if her exertions in two disciplines might hinder her chances of winning her 24th singles title and draw alongside Margaret Court at the top of the all-time list, Williams said: “No, I’ll be fine. I play doubles a lot, especially in grand slams. I’m definitely used to all the matches.”

Murray, who earlier went out of the men’s doubles, can concentrate solely on winning a title with the woman he called this past week “one of the greatest players of all time”.

Their toweringly obscure opponents, Andreas Mies and Alexa Guarachi, played their part, thrilled to be sharing a stage in front of the biggest audience of their careers to date, or probably ever more. Ultimately, there was not a lot they could do to stop their illustrious opponents winning 6-4, 6-1 in an hour and a quarter. The packed house could have watched them all the way to the midnight curfew.

What could have turned into the biggest mismatch at Wimbledon since Prince Albert (the future George VI) lost in the first round of the men’s doubles in 1926 alongside his mentor, Sir Louis Greig, grandfather of the current editor of the Daily Mail, was an entertaining and intermittently competitive match.

“We’re not here just for show,” Williams said beforehand. “We both have been champions at Wimbledon. We want to continue to do that. I always play the forehand side. If you want to play with me, I play forehand. It’s the only rule I have.” And so they did.

Williams – who also won the mixed doubles title here in 1998, with Max Myrni, the Belarusian who beat Murray and Laura Robson in the 2012 Olympic final on the same court – said later: “We’re obviously here to do well, but have fun at the same time.”

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Murray added: “Towards the end of the match, when you’re in control on the scoreboard, it’s easier to relax and enjoy it, whereas in the first set we were taking it seriously to win. Had a bunch of chances, didn’t get them. Thankfully got the 5-4 game. For me it was a great experience being back on Centre Court with Serena after the last year or so being tough.”

Their opponents, both 28 and flying some way below the radar, were unknown to all but family and friends. Mies came through the American college system, had a career-high singles ranking of 781 in 2017 and had played a handful of matches outside the full Tour. He had to save two break points at the start of the match – and fluffed a half-volley, racket no doubt shaking just a little.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Andy Murray fires down a serve during his men’s doubles defeat. Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Guarachi, who plays doubles almost exclusively, with a world ranking of 64, inhabits a similarly obscure part of the tennis forest but did well enough to hold her serve at the first time of asking. They did force a couple of deuce points in the first set, but it fell away somewhat for them once the Williams/Murray partnership warmed up.

Mies was understandably chuffed when he aced Williams in the ninth game (something to tell the grandchildren etc) to extend the first set past the half hour, but he was nonplussed when the next return from her passed him almost as fast as his serve.

As well as the laughs, there was the serious stuff. Murray even belted Mies with a volley at the net in the last game. Tough gig. At the end, a palpable ripple of goodwill filled the air. This is what tennis used to be like. Mainly fun. In the second week, Williams will return to the more serious business of trying to win the singles. Murray? He can relax a bit and hope his partner stays injury free.

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In the first match of the day on Court No 1, Williams spent just an hour and 12 minutes beating the 19th seed, Julia Görges, 6-3, 6-4, a decent workout for her. Murray has lesser burdens.

In his first doubles of the day, Murray and Pierre-Hugues Herbert got in a tangle when the Scot switched from the ad side to the deuce side in the fourth set, making it that bit easier for the experienced sixth seeds, Nikola Mektic and Franko Skugor, to win 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 on Court No 2.

The Scot said of that disappointment: “It’s not a blow really in the grand scheme of things. I know people were talking about winning the doubles, winning mixed doubles, playing 12 matches in 11 days. I was aware that that wasn’t going to be the case, most likely. We played against a really good team today that are ranked 5 or 6 in the world. Mektic’s won a few Masters Series in the last year.

“The first two sets I felt we were the better team. If we got the second, I think we would have run away with it. We lost a tough game at the end of the second. Those guys played really well the last couple of sets.

“If we maybe got through that one, we could have made a bit of a run. Yeah, not to be.”