Andy Murray opens defense with win

— -- LONDON -- Andy Murray arrived on Centre Court to a standing ovation and left to another.

After ending Britain's 77-year wait for a homegrown men's champion at Wimbledon last year, Murray got off to a strong start Monday in his bid to become the first to retain the title since Fred Perry in 1936.

In keeping with tradition, Murray had the honor of playing the opening match on Centre Court as the defending men's champion -- and looked right at home in beating David Goffin 6-1, 6-4, 7-5.

Murray broke the 105th-ranked Belgian four times, saved the only two break points against him and sealed the contest with an ace, his eighth of the match. It was Murray's 450th tour-level match win.

Murray received a huge ovation when he strode onto the court where he beat Novak Djokovic in last year's final, soaking in the applause and giving a wave to the crowd -- including those fans who queued up for tickets overnight for the rare chance to see a reigning British champion.

"It was nice," Murray said. "I was nervous this morning, nervous yesterday. Walking through brings back a lot of good memories. I got a nice round of applause and once you sit down in a chair it's time to get ready for this year and move on from last year."

Djokovic, the No. 1 seed, won his opening match as well, 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 over Andrey Golubev.

He didn't face a break point and served seven aces.

Said Djokovic: "It was a great start, credit to Andrey for coming back and playing some good tennis in the third."

Among those in the Royal Box for the occasion were Murray's father and grandparents and retired NBA star Shaquille O'Neal, dressed in suit and tie.

Murray chatted briefly with the 7-foot-1 (2.16-meter) Shaq after the match.

"He's a big boy, that's for sure," Murray said. "He was huge."

Murray's new coach, former women's champion Amelie Mauresmo, sat in the front row of the guest box but showed little emotion throughout the match. Murray said the two spoke over dinner last week about the pressures of returning to Centre Court as reigning champ.

"One of the things she said is she tried to take in the atmosphere and the experience of walking out as defending champion," Murray said. "You never know if you'll get the chance to do it again."

Murray was on top of his game from the outset, sailing through the first set in 29 minutes, and closing out the second with an ace. Goffin, who stands 5-foot-11 (1.80 meters) with a slight build, was overpowered for the first two sets but raised his level in the third and pushed Murray hard.

"In the second and third sets I thought the standard was very high," Murray said. "He came up with some unbelievable passing shots. I was glad to finish it in three."

Among other men's winners on a cloudy opening day was sixth-seeded and 2010 runner-up Tomas Berdych, who beat Victor Hanescu 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-4, 6-3. No. 11 Grigor Dimitrov, No. 12 Ernests Gulbis and No. 17 Mikhail Youzhny also advanced.

But 18th-seeded Fernando Verdasco fell to Australia's Marinko Matosevic, losing 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.