Andy Murray blasted through to the Australian Open third round with a straight-sets victory over big-serving Sam Groth and then declared “I can still get better”.
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Murray was not troubled by Sam Groth on Rod Lever Arena as he cruised to a 6-0 6-4 6-1 victory, the second seed winning the first nine games of the match as his opponent struggled on the show court. “At the beginning I think he was extremely aggressive, very intense”, Murray said in a statement provided to journalists.
Kovinic, making her Australian Open debut at the age of 21, never looked a threat and while she held her serve for 1-2, the first game Azarenka has lost in the tournament, it was just a temporary blip for the Belarusian who raced through the set.
The third and final set followed a similar pattern to the first with Murray carving out five break points, taking two of them to send Groth on his way and out of his misery.
“So if I play well, I’ve got a good chance obviously”.
The Scot, runner-up four times at Melbourne Park, sealed victory when the Portuguese went long and will next face the victor of the final third-round match between Australians Bernard Tomic and John Millman.
But Ivanovic got another crucial break in the eighth game, and a backhand into the net from the Latvian ensured she lived to fight another day.
Having to face Djokovic in another final this fortnight would be problematic for Murray, since he has lost 10 of their last 11 meetings.
Murray, whose rediscovered love of the lob entitles him to be labelled the game’s Lobster, said courtside, “It’s nice to play different game styles. But if someone passes out or on dies on a tennis court, it can be very, very bad”.
There will be tougher tests for Murray, assuming he doesn’t have to rush back home – the baby is due the second week of February – but he put in a stunning performance against the player who took a set off Roger Federer at Wimbledon a year ago.
Former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic was shaken up when a spectator was injured falling down the stairs on Rod Laver Arena but recovered her composure to ease into the third round at the Australian Open on Thursday. “There’s nerves from everybody – my parents, myself, hundreds of people around me and obviously the situation as it is in the match”.
But it didn’t last with the Scot breaking the Newcombe Medallist seven times in the impressive display.
“Preparation-wise, I worked on a lot of passing shots and lobs and did a lot on my return, because I knew that was going to be important against Groth”.
Konta, fresh from her first-round dismantling of Venus Williams at the Rod Laver Arena, found herself back on the peripheral Court 8 on a damp and grey morning in Melbourne Park.
“It just really didn’t sound so good”. ‘All I can say is that I have definitely gained more experience because of the situations I have been in since. “It was pretty loud even for a smaller court”.
He said: “Every time I get a phone call or every time the phone buzzes… like this morning I ordered room service and I got a phone call to my room that woke me up, and I completely panicked”. Next up for the British number one is Czech Republic world number 66 Denisa Allertova.
“Psychologically, winning major competitions can help you as well and I’m sure that winning the Davis Cup helped Novak and helped most players that have won it”.
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“We’ve all been eating together”, he said.
