Clinical Murray crushes Davydenko

LONDON (Reuters) - Andy Murray made a ruthless start to his seventh Wimbledon title bid by crushing Russian Nikolay Davydenko 6-1 6-1 6-4 in the first round on Tuesday.

The British fourth seed, semi-finalist for the past three years, needed one hour 35 minutes to see off the former world number three.

Murray raced through the first two sets in 55 minutes and although Davydenko improved in the third, Murray's powerful serve and metronomical groundstrokes were simply too good for the 31-year-old Davydenko.

Murray, bidding to become the first British man to win Wimbledon for 76 years, sealed victory on his third match point when his opponent sent a backhand return long and he will play Croatian Ivo Karlovic or Israeli Dudi Sela in the second round.

(Reporting by Ed Osmond, editing by Martyn Herman)