Murray sparkles in Aus Open; Tsonga and Tomic sweat it out
MELBOURNE (AFP) –
Andy Murray savours victory against Joao Sousa of Portugal at the Australian Open in Melbourne on January 17, 2013. The reigning US Open champion conceded just eight games in putting away 100th-ranked Sousa, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 in 1hr 41min on Hisense Arena.
Andy Murray mercifully kept it short as Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Bernard Tomic were made to sweat it out en-route to the third round of the Australian Open.
On the hottest day so far at the Grand Slam with temperatures hitting 41 Celsius (106 Fahrenheit), iced towels and water bottles were in big demand with the players.
British third seed and reigning US Open champion Murray was impressive in conceding just eight games in putting away 100th-ranked Portuguese Joao Sousa, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 in 1hr 41min on Hisense Arena.
Murray, twice a runner-up at the Australian Open, will have hitting partner, Lithuanian qualifier Ricardas Berankis, as his next opponent in the last 32.
The Scot, who trains in Miami to condition for the heat of the Australian Open, said he has played in tougher conditions but was glad he made short work of reaching the third round.
“It wasn’t that bad on the court. When the sun came out it was extremely hot. There was little humidity,” Murray said.
“When you get the combination of the heat and the humidity is when it’s normally at its worst. I’ve played in worse conditions, but it’s still very hot.”
Murray was too hot to handle, breaking Sousa’s service five times without facing a break point.
It was his sixth consecutive match victory this season after he beat Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov to win his 25th career title at the Brisbane International.
While Murray made reasonably short work of it, Tsonga and Tomic were kept on court for longer than they wanted under the broiling sun.
Frenchman Tsonga, a runner-up here five years ago, was made to toil hard in the heat for his 6-3, 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 win over Japan’s 73rd-ranked Go Soeda in 2hr 3min on Margaret Court Arena.
It was seventh-seeded Tsonga’s second victory in straight sets at the tournament and puts him in the last 32 where he will face unseeded Slovenian Blaz Kavcic.
Kavcic took almost five hours before finally overcoming Australian James Duckworth 10-8 in the fifth set.
Another young Australian, Tomic, remained on course for a likely showdown against Roger Federer with a tightly fought win over German qualifier Daniel Brands.
The 20-year-old secured a 6-7 (4/7), 7-5, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (10/8) win in 2hr 55min to reach the third round and continue his unbeaten start to the year after claiming his first tour title at the Sydney International.
Elsewhere, Croatia’s 12th seed Marin Cilic, a semi-finalist three years ago, beat American qualifier Rajeev Ram in straight sets, German seed Philipp Kohlschreiber won in three and Frenchman Jeremy Chardy knocked out Spanish 30th seed Marcel Granollers in four sets.
Big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic fired 18 aces in his straight sets win over Czech Republic’s Lukas Rosol, while Italian 21st seed Andreas Seppi prevailed over Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin in five sets.