Sania, Bopanna move to second round with partners
Melbourne: Top seed Andy Murray sped into the Australian Open third round on Wednesday but bad boy Nick Kyrgios was booed and accused of not trying as he crashed to a stormy defeat.
Roger Federer progressed despite unexpected resistance and women’s world number one Angelique Kerber celebrated her 29th birthday with a hard-fought win.
Murray painfully rolled an ankle and needed treatment in the third set against Russian qualifier Andrey Rublev, but he shook off the problem to win 6-3, 6-0, 6-2.
While the world number one cruised, Kyrgios stood accused of tanking, or giving up, during his 1-6, 6-7 (1/7), 6-4, 6-2, 10-8 loss to Andreas Seppi.
Kyrgios, who is returning from a ban for “lack of best efforts” in a match in Shanghai, played lethargically and casually, especially in the fifth set.
“Obviously it’s not the greatest thing to hear,” he said of the booing. “I didn’t have the best preparation coming into the Australian Open. Pretty banged up, my body.”
“I don’t even know what the score was in the end. Was it 10-8? 10-8 in the fifth, getting booed off, definitely not the best feeling.”
Tennis legend John McEnroe said Kyrgios’s lack of effort was a “black eye for the sport”. Kyrgios explained that “my body was sore. I was hurting.
“I mean, John McEnroe. Good on him. Great career. Good on him.”
Asked how he could have been better prepared, Kyrgios, who hurt his knee playing basketball, said: “I don’t know, maybe just not play as much basketball. Actually take my pre-season seriously.”
Earlier Federer was made to work by 200th-ranked Noah Rubin for a 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) win that set up a third-round assignment against his old rival Tomas Berdych.
“I know what he’s got. I don’t need to tell you where he’s beaten me,” Federer said of Berdych.
Meanwhile, Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna made winning starts to their respective campaigns at the Australian Open with contrasting opening-round victories with their doubles partners, here on Wednesday.
Sania Mirza and Czech Republic’s Barbora Strycova recorded a resounding 6-3 6-1 win over the British pair of Jocelyn Rae and Anna Smith in the women’s doubles event.
Bopanna and his Pablo Cuevas from Uruguay, seeded 15th, pipped Thomaz Bellucci from Brazil and Maximo Gonzalez from Argentina 6-4 7-6(4) in the men’s doubles first round.
Their next opponents are Australia’s Alex Bolt and Bradley Mousley. Sania and Barbora drew the first blood in the sixth game.
Sania hit a deep forehand down the line to get a third break point after having missed out on the first two. Rae then made an unforced error off the next service as her backhand volley hit the net. The Indian then served out the set in the next game.
Sania and Barbora were more authoritative in the second set as they broke the rivals twice to easily close the match.
The Indian pair of Purav Raja and Divij Sharan will open their men’s doubles campaign against French team of Jonathan Eysseric and Fabrice Martin.
Leander Paes and his new partner Andre Sa are up against 10th seeds Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi, whom they had beaten at the Auckland ATP event last week. (Agencies)