Murray Through To Aus Third Round, Federer Doubtful

Whilst two of the Australian Open Ante-Post favourites have already reached the third round of the competition, Rafael Nadal is currently fighting out his second round match-up against Tim Smyczek of the United States whilst tournament outright market leader Novak Djokovic is set to take on Russia`s Andrey Kuznetsov tomorrow.

The odds-on favourite to pick up the Men`s Singles title at the end of the year`s first Grand Slam, four-time competition winner Djokovic successfully saw off Aljaz Bedene in the opening stage down under. That encounter finished in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

Bedene, a Slovenian native currently awaiting his application for British citizenship, failed to cause the Serb any real problems, the world number one managing to secure the second set in less than half an hour.

Thursday`s clash with Kuznetsov will mark the first ever meeting between the number one seed and the 23-year-old Balashikha native ranked 88th in the world. Djokovic should be able to harness yesterday`s positive performance and progress through to the third round of the tournament with a comparable lack of effort, Titanbet offering odds of 1/66 on the Serb getting the better of the youngster.

Boylesports have priced up an unlikely win for Kuznetsov at 28/1, his appearance in the second round equalling his best ever Australian Open finish. The former Wimbledon Boy`s Singles champion is available at 4/1 (william hill) to merely win a set whilst sportingbet`s 3/10 says that Djokovic can win his second successive tie in straight sets. Andy Murray will meet João Sousa in the third round in a repeat of the second round of the 2013 tournament. The Scot recorded an emphatic 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 victory in the pair`s first ever meeting and has since gone on to tally two further wins against the 25-year-old.

All of these matches between the two men were played on hard court surfaces.

Murray is trying to become the first man to win the title after being the competition runner-up on three previous occasions. He began his campaign with a solid defeating of Indian first-timer Yuki Bhambri, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6.

The world number six`s finest hour came in the third set when he had to recover from being 4-1 down against the lowest-ranked player in the draw to eventually take it to a tie-break. There was no sweating in this tie-break, however, the Dunblaine-born star sealing the win 7-3.

Round two saw Murray take on home hope Marinko Matosevic, though his opponent only managed to win six sets, the match finishing 6-1, 6-3, 6-2.

This was the two men`s second meeting, having competed in the last 16 of the Queen`s Club tournament of 2013. Murray was also the victor on that occasion, the match ending 6-2, 6-2.

Should the 27-year-old two-time Grand Slam winner see off Sousa in straight sets, something that he is 1/3 with betfair to do, he will continue two key trends. The first is that he will have played a full four matches against the Portuguese player without dropping a set, the second being that he will have not dropped a set in his first three games of the 2015 competition.

Most bookmakers have priced Murray up at 1/50 to get the win by any means, whilst Sousa is 18/1 with bet365 to break British hearts.

Roger Federer`s further participation in the tournament has been thrown into doubt after complaining of an injured finger following his second round victory over Simone Botelli. Italian Botelli picked up the first set 6-3 but couldn`t build on this positive start, or the Swiss star`s apparent injury to win any of the remaining games.

Federer walked out the four set winner, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.

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21/01/2015     © Frixo 2026