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Stars struggle in Melbourne
World number one Andy Murray fought his way into the second round as several top players struggled in hot conditions on day one at the Australian Open.
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Melbourne
As temperatures topped 32 Celsius (90 Fahrenheit), Murray came through a two hours, 47 minutes test against Ukraine’s Illya Marchenko 7-5, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2. He fared better than women’s fourth seed Simona Halep, who was an early casualty, and Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic, who were both taken to five sets.
Players draped themselves with towels packed with ice on a sweltering afternoon. Temperatures are set to rise further on Tuesday to a sizzling 38 Celsius. “I’ve never won here,” said Murray, who has lost a record five finals at Melbourne Park.
“Lost in the final a few times so I’m hoping to go one better this time.” Halep is rated as the fastest player, male or female, over three metres but her usual zip was glaringly absent as she went down 6-3, 6-1 to American rising star Shelby Rogers.
Afterwards she said a knee injury had slowed her down as she succumbed in the Australian Open’s first round for the second consecutive year. For 24-year-old Rogers, it was further proof of her potential after she reached last year’s French Open quarter-finals and rose nearly 100 places in the rankings last year.
Venus Williams, the oldest player in the women’s draw at 36, also found herself with a fight on her hands but she came through 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 against 22-year-old Kateryna Kozlova. Japan’s Nishikori, who says he is primed to win his first major title this year, came through a five-set battle with Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov 5-7, 6-1, 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 6-2.
Marin Cilic, the 2014 US Open winner, also needed five as he came from two sets down to dispatch Jerzy Janowicz 4-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. China’s Zhang Shuai had an easier time with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus.
Watch out for Rublev and the Russians
Andy Murray is ambivalent about being introduced as “Sir” when he walks on court following his recent knighthood and it is a greeting he is unlikely to receive from Russian teenager Andrey Rublev when they meet in the Australian Open second round.
Firebrand Rublev, 19, was one of two young Russians to enjoy impressive opening victories on Monday. The qualifier, the son of a professional boxer, knocked over experienced Taiwanese player Lu Yen-Hsun while Karen Khachanov, 20, also needed four sets to beat Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.
With 20-year-old Daniil Medvedev also on the rise, Russia finally appears to have found a clutch of players capable of filling the void left by mercurial former world number one Marat Safin. Rublev, who keeps in shape by sparring in the boxing ring and listens to the music of Mettalica, has something of Safin’s volcanic demeanour on court, as well as the shot-making skills. He has already got under the skin of opponents and two years ago Argentine Olivo Renzo accused Rublev of intimidating him during a Challenger match in Moscow.
“I am disappointed with what happened during today’s match, in which the rival played against the rules a couple of times, and threatened me,” Renzo wrote in a letter of complaint. Experienced Spaniard Fernando Verdasco described Rublev as rude after a match in Barcelona. “He shows little respect for his opponent,” Verdasco said.
Rublev, whose win over Lu was his first at Grand Slam level, will on Wednesday play World No 1 Murray - a player who can identify with the brashness of youth having burst on to the scene as a moody teenager.
“I know a little bit about him. I never hit with him or played against him, but I’ve seen him play before and he goes for it. He doesn’t hold back. He hits a big ball,” top seed Murray said. In contrast, Khachanov and Medvedev are in the top 100.
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