The only other Briton left in the singles draw, Johanna Konta, who beat Venus Williams on day two of the competition, also booked her place in the round three with a straightforward win over world number 83 Saisai Zheng of China.
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As Groth prepares for the huge second-round encounter, he may want to have his practice partner beef up second serves to get ready for the improved 2016 version of Andy Murray.
The 18-year-old Osaka, whose dad is from Haiti and mom from Japan and who was actually born in Osaka, qualified and hasn’t lost a set in her Grand Slam debut with wins over Donna Vekic and Elina Svitolina.
Hewitt’s 20th bid to win the Australian Open ended in the second round in a 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 loss to eighth-seeded David Ferrer. That came in their previous meeting at the French Open past year.
All four players are in Murray’s squad to travel to Israel for the gruelling Euro-Africa Zone tournament straight after Melbourne. No Australian man has won the title since 1976. I played much better in the second round than the first.
The Scot and Brazilian beat Britain’s Jonny Marray, the former Wimbledon champion, and Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi 6-3 6-4. “He wins. He knows how to win matches”.
Verdasco double-faulted twice in a row in the tiebreaker to put Sela within two points of victory, then netted a backhand to end the match.
Milos Raonic has advanced to the third round after overcoming determined veteran Tommy Robredo 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 7-5.
“He didn’t start off the match serving so well, which helped me”.
Groth finally delivered his first ace after 36 minutes, only to drop serve again moments later, and there were 43 minutes on the clock when he finally got the scoreboard moving to trail 6-0 3-1.
It was a clinical performance from the four-time Australian Open runner-up, who hit 35 winners and just 11 unforced errors.
The 26-year-old, who won the Open in 2012 and 2013, dished out a double bagel in the opening round.
Azarenka, like Murray a two-time grand slam victor, pummeled Danka Kovinic 6-1 6-2, a round after thrashing Alison van Uytvanck 6-0 6-0.
The Australian began to get his game together but Murray still grabbed his fifth service break to take a two sets to love lead when Groth’s crouching volley was wide on break point.
After the dominant win he said: “It is nice to play different styles. So I’m really happy with this victory”. “It keeps me focused”.
Murray will face Portuguese 32nd seed Joao Sousa in the third round as he strives to go one better in 2016 after losing four finals at Melbourne Park.
He was one of eight Americans through to the second round at the Australian Open – the most since 2008.
Isner has only been past the third round once before in Melbourne.
One final selection involves Argentine Guido Pella taking a set off Feliciano Lopez. The second round match between Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and L…
On both Tuesday and Wednesday nights, the victor of the top-billed match on Rod Laver Arena came into the press-conference room afterwards to be greeted by questions about suspicious matches and results. The second round match between Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and Latvia’s Anastasi… No other details were immediately available.
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Now she’ll play Azarenka on the biggest court in Australia.
