Murray continues pursuit of first Australian Open

“I never hit with him or played against him at all, apart from that match in the Davis Cup”, Murray said.

Konta, who was born in Sydney and became a British citizen in 2012, beat Denisa Allertova 6-2, 6-2 and will next play No. 21-seeded Ekaterina Makarova, a semifinalist here previous year, who had a 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 9 Karolina Pliskova.

Murray had drawn Sam Groth in the second round, a very large server and Australian national on the men’s tour.

Groth was playing on the Rod Laver Court for the first time and Murray said he was surprised when he heard the local man announce the fact when he was standing just a few feet away on in the locker room.

“He didn’t start the match off serving that well, which helped”, Murray told reporters after his 91-minute victory.

Azarenka has been hampered by injuries lately, most notably in 2014, but appears to be ready to add to her grand slam collection. “But he’s the sort of player that if your level’s not quite there, he’ll make it very tough for you, as he did when I played him at the French Open”. “I felt like I closed the match out well”.

In his first appearance on Rod Laver Arena on Thursday, the late-blooming Australian – best known for producing the fastest serve ever recorded in tennis history – was given an unceremonious welcome by the Briton, reports Xinhua.

He broke in the first game of the third, with another perfectly placed lob of course, and again in the sixth game when Groth appeared so resigned to defeat he advised the umpire his own serve was out.

Murray continued his momentum into the third set, racing out to a 3-0 lead that he built on to set up a third round clash with Joao Sousa of Portugal.

Zhang backs up her big win over Halep: After shocking No. 2-seed Simona Halep in the first round, Shuai Zhang followed up her win and took down Alize Cornet 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the third round.

Murray wrested back the momentum by breaking his opponent at the start of the third, however, and once he had gone 2-1 up a hard-fought victory always looked on the cards.

A medical emergency in the stands, involving a spectator who apparently slipped while descending the stadium’s stairs, kept players patiently waiting on court side for 35 minutes for play to resume. “I think if I can put my game together a little bit cleaner and more efficient than I did today, be a little bit more proficient at the net, I’ll be able to give myself some opportunities”, Raonic said after his second-round win. Santiago Giraldo played unbelievable and I thought I played even better.

World number one Novak Djokovic insists he has not been distracted at the Australian Open by allegations he deliberately lost a match in 2007.

Since reaching last year’s Wimbledon final, the Spanish player has lost in the second round of the U.S. Open and now the third round at Melbourne Park.

Hewitt, who played his first Australian Open in 1997, won his first title at the age of 16 and was ranked No. 1 at age 20, was joined on court by his three children after he match. “I think I’ve played well”. No. 10 John Isner fired 20 aces and 53 winners in a 6-3, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2) win over Marcel Granollers, and No. 14 Milos Raonic had 24 aces as he fended off Tommy Robredo 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 7-5 in a match containing one service break.

Hewitt, who played his first Australian Open in 1997, never achieved his ambition of winning the national championship.

“I am playing very good actually”.