Murray cruises past Groth

Murray’s next challenger is 32nd seed Joao Sousa, a scrapper from Portugal.

There was a lengthy delay on Rod Laver Arena in the first match of the day, during Ana Ivanovic’s 6-3, 6-3 win over Anastasija Sevastova. He’ll retire after the tournament. And the tributes kept streaming in.

At the end of the contest, Murray departed the arena immediately, rather than doing a customary on-court interview. Muguruza is attempting to make the fourth round here for the third year in a row. He took the second set after an hour and three minutes when he forced Groth to push a stretched volley wide, and the Australian looked shattered.

He was one of eight American men to reach the second round in Melbourne – the most since 2008.

Hewitt’s 20th bid to win the Australian Open ended in the second round in a 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 loss to eighth-seeded David Ferrer.

Stepanek took a 4-2 head-to-head edge into the match, although Wawrinka has now won their last three matches.

In the build-up to the match, however, Djokovic was forced to answer questions relating to claims made by Italian newspaper Tuttosport on Wednesday that he had “wanted” to lose against France’s Fabrice Santoro at the Paris Masters nine years ago.

Sousa is good friends with Rafael Nadal and spent a week in Majorca training with the Spaniard during the off-season.

The veteran lefthander was beaten 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (4) on Thursday by Dudi Sela of Israel.

After his first-round win, on the day when the BBC and BuzzFeed News published reports alleging match-fixing had gone unchecked in tennis, the top-ranked player recalled when a member of his support team was approached with an offer to throw a match in Russian Federation in 2007. It was Federer’s 299th match win at a major.

Murray has reached four finals in Australia, but never won the title. Then made it tougher there.

Should the Barcelona-based youngster not slip up against Czech Barbora Strycova in the third round, she will face Australian Open dual-winner Victoria Azarenka in the Round of 16. He won the 2012 U.S. Open and 2013 Wimbledon. Azarenka needed barely an hour to cruise past Kovinic 6-1, 6-2. He showed some frustration after losing an early break in the second set but quickly regrouped, breaking Groth back in the 10th and final game of that frame to take a commanding lead.

Groth began the match having blasted 27 aces and the fastest serve recorded at the tournament so far at 235 kph in his first round victory against Adrian Mannarino. I was really shaking, because the sound of the lady falling was really loud. “It keeps me focused”.

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

Azarenka is seeded 14th but on form is shaping as Serena Williams’ biggest challenger at Melbourne Park.

A 6-2, 6-3 victor over China’s Saisai Zheng, it was easy to forget that she had not even played in the Australian Open main draw before this week.

Prior to their second-round match in Melbourne, his opponent Sam Groth quipped: “Be nice if his wife went into labor overnight”. He faces the victor of the match between Spain’s Feliciano Lopez and Guido Pella of Argentina.

Sears, the coach of Ana Ivanovic, had been watching the Serb’s third-round match against Madison Keys when he suddenly fell ill.

Medical staff attend to an injured patron on a stairwell on Rod Laver Arena at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016.

“He’s a very good mover, good athlete”. John Isner also advanced while Gael Monfils, who seems quiet at the Aussie, is also into the third round.