Third-seeded Garbine Muguruza, the 2015 Wimbledon finalist, advanced with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Kirsten Flipkens, No. 7 Angelique Kerber beat Alexandra Dulgheru 6-2, 6-4 and No. 15 Madison Keys beat Yaroslava Shvedova 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3.
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Two-time champion Victoria Azarenka continued her strong recent run with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Danka Kovinic, while Japanese qualifier Naomi Osaka beat No. 18 Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-4.
With Murray serving for victory, the Australian then twisted his ankle reaching for a low ball and looked in real pain as the Scot sealed victory.
The fact that he has lost the other four is one of the things driving him on here and he toyed with Groth, who holds the record for the fastest serve at 263kmh (163mph), but who was torn apart.
Ana Ivanovic has advanced to the third round at Melbourne Park following a 6-3, 6-3 win over qualifier Anastasija Sevastova in a match that was suspended when a spectator fell on the stairs at Rod Laver Arena.
On the court, Murray is seeking a first grand slam title in three years.
“Preparation-wise, I worked on a lot of passing shots and lobs (against Groth) and did a lot on my return, because I knew that was going to be important”, he said. I hired a new fitness coach, so it’s been really great.
“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”.
“But obviously when he serves well, it’s easy to get impatient”.
“I just tried to keep fighting”. But Murray “marmalised the world number 67 with the biggest serve in the game so completely that he left the very clear impression he is in great shape to reach his fifth final here”.
“I played much better in my second match than on the first day”. “A couple of the roars during the match tonight was as loud as I’ve ever played in front of”.
“I remember when I played my first match on Centre Court and it’s very different to the outside courts”. “It was good to get through that one”. “That’s something I can be proud of”, Hewitt, who turns 35 next month, told the crowd after his last singles match on the tour. “I still think I can play better”.
Two big servers advanced, with No. 10 John Isner fired 20 aces and 53 winners in a 6-3, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2) win over Marcel Granollers and Milos Raonic hitting 24 aces as he fended off Tommy Robredo 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 7-5 in a match containing one service break.
At 34, Hewitt may have enough metal in his body from various surgeries to set off a metal detector at airports but even in his last match, he scrambled and scrapped for everything. Murray, having faced Sam Groth in the previous round, will now face a different stylistic challenge in round three.
“He was someone I loved watching growing up”.
“That surprised me”, Murray revealed. “He fought, well, fights extremely hard to this day”.
The BBC and BuzzFeed reports said 16 players repeatedly had been flagged to tennis authorities for suspicious performances, including a Grand Slam victor, and half of them were at this year’s Australian Open. “But he’s the sort of player that if your level’s not quite there, he’ll make it very tough for you, as he did when I played him at the French Open”.
Tennis Australia claimed the omission had been due to a production error. Good athlete. He wins.
That win will come at the cost of some domestic harmony, however: Murray and Marray are actually flat mates in their temporary home in Melbourne.
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Jamie said the draw against Marray had been “unfortunate” but added: “We went out for dinner. It was a little bit awkward, kind of hanging there in the air, but I think we both played a decent match”.
