“I never hit with him or played against him at all, apart from that match in the Davis Cup”, Murray said.
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The Scot has not lost an official match in 11 years against players from Down Under and that run never looked like ending here as he cruised to victory, winning 6-0 6-4 6-1.
The big-serving Canadian finally broke Robredo s serve at the 12th attempt and in the 36th game to win it 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 and reach the third round after two hours and 55 minutes.
He said: “I was standing right next to him in the locker room and he said to someone, “This is my first time on Rod Laver”.
It temporarily seemed like there might be a game on but Murray instantly recovered his groove as another backhand pass helped him break at 5-4 and take a two-set advantage. “And from the back of the court, maybe because I wasn’t hitting loads of balls, I wasn’t hitting the ball from the back of the court as well as I did against Zverev”. Keys made it to semifinals in Melbourne previous year, where she lost to eventual champion Serena Williams. “I remember seeded even myself would you get to third, fourth round without dropping too many games”, she added.
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.
Every so often, a tennis player comes through who gets us all very excited, showing a huge amount of potential at a young age, making us think that we just might have the new superstar of the sport.
Murray was lobbing and passing at will and such was his complete mastery of his opponent, all Groth could do was shake his head and offer a wry smile.
Murray had recently concluded his second straight-sets win of the tournament, beating the world’s fastest server Sam Groth by a dominant 6-0, 6-4, 6-1 margin.
Third-seeded Garbine Muguruza, the 2015 Wimbledon finalist, advanced with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Kirsten Flipkens, No. 7 Angelique Kerber and No. 15 Madison Keys also advanced.
Petchey believes Allertova, who knocked out 30th seed Sabine Lisicki 6-3 2-6 6-4, won’t be a walkover.
“There’s some things I certainly could have done better”, Murray said. “He is somebody who has really improved and gets the most out of his game in terms of the way that he plays, but there a definitely a few limitations that Andy will I’m sure exploit as the match goes on”.
Konta kept up the momentum following her landmark win on Tuesday as she breezed past China’s world number 83.
“I think he obviously started well so that calms all the nerves for everybody as well”, Petchey told Sky Sports.
Second seed in the 2016 Australian Open men’s draw Andy Murray will look to continue his past dominance of Joao Sousa in the third round when the pair do battle on Margaret Court Arena. “Really that’s what I’m looking for, to keep applying the same effort, and pay attention to details in preparation before the match”.
The clash was in fact on clay in Madrid in 2014, with the Serbian former world number one winning 6-1, 7-6 (7/4).
No. 2 Simona Halep, No. 6 Petra Kvitova and No. 8 Venus Williams have also been eliminated from the tournament.
Back to the men’s draw and later Thursday, home favorite Lleyton Hewitt takes on eighth seed David Ferrer in a match much of Australia will be tuning in to.
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“Where I am in my life is very different and I’m so very happy to be here and want to enjoy it as long as I can”, Azarenka said.
