Tennis – Australian Open:Andy Murray revealed he struggled with the windy conditions on the Margaret Court Arena despite comfortably securing his passage into the third round of the Australian Open with a straight-sets win over Marc Gicquel.
The fifth seed looked untroubled as he took just under two hours today to overcome the 32-year-old, 6-1 6-4 6-3, and book a place in the last 32 where he will meet another Frenchman, Florent Serra.
But afterwards Murray revealed he had struggled to adapt to the outdoor conditions after playing his first match against Kevin Anderson under the Rod Laver Arena roof on a rainy opening day.
"The wind was the hardest part. Obviously, it was quite a good atmosphere, quite a lot of noise, a lot of flags and people moving around," said Murray, whose only lead-up event was also indoors at the Hopman Cup in Perth.
"I think I did well to keep my concentration from that, but the wind was the trickiest part because it's kind of like a bowl - the wind kind of gets trapped in there and swirls around.
"Sometimes you think the ball is going one direction, and the wind is going one direction and then in the middle of the point it can change pretty quickly. That was tough.
"But I was happy with the way I played."
Murray raced through the opening set in just 23 minutes, but his progress was slowed thereafter as he struggled for consistency on his serve.
He was forced to battle back from 0-40 down in the sixth game of the second set to maintain his break, but then rattled off four out of five first serves to clinch the game and extricate himself from trouble.
"That's when it's important to make them (first serves) on the big points, when you're behind," he said.
"Maybe it's just a little bit of extra focus, why I served better on the big points so far in the tournament.
"Obviously, I want to serve well in all of the points and give each point as much attention as possible.
"That's something I'll try and do better the next round."
Murray was broken in the third set as Gicquel, the world number 57, was rewarded for his doggedness.
But the Scot broke back immediately to ensure his authority on the match and he felt he had the answer to anything his opponent could throw at him.
"The first set was good and then it was tough after that," he said.
"I came through a couple of tough moments early in the second set - down 0-40 on my serve and managed to hold there.
"He started to play better at that stage and came through that well.
"The third set, obviously got broken back, won a long game the following game to break back.
"I was happy with the way I played."
Collated Results: Australian Open, Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia
Men's Singles Second Round:(7) Andy Roddick (USA) bt Thomaz Bellucci (Bra) 6-3 6-4 6-4, Feliciano Lopez (Spa) bt Rainer Schuettler (Ger) 6-3 2-6 6-3 6-2, Evgeny Korolev (Rus) bt (21) Tomas Berdych (Cze) 6-4 6-4 7-5, (11) Fernando Gonzalez (Chi) bt Marsel Ilhan (Tur) 6-3 6-4 7-5, (14) Marin Cilic (Cro) bt Bernard Tomic (Aus) 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 4-6 6-2 6-4, (19) Stanislas Wawrinka (Swi) bt Igor Kunitsyn (Rus) 6-3 6-2 6-2, Florian Mayer (Ger) bt (29) Viktor Troicki (Ser) 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-2) 6-1, (4) Juan Martin Del Potro (Arg) bt James Blake (USA) 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 5-7 6-3 10-8, (5) Andy Murray (Gbr) bt Marc Gicquel (Fra) 6-1 6- 4 6-3, Florent Serra (Fra) bt Jarkko Nieminen (Fin) 3-6 6-4 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 7-5, (33) John Isner (USA) bt Louk Sorensen (Irl) 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 7-5, (12) Gael Monfils (Fra) bt Antonio Veic (Cro) 6-4 6-4 6-4, Ivo Karlovic (Cro) bt Julien Benneteau (Fra) 2-6 6-1 6-3 6-3, (24) Ivan Ljubicic (Cro) bt Andrey Golubev (Kaz) 6-3 3-6 6-2 6- 3, (27) Philipp Kohlschreiber (Ger) bt Wayne Odesnik (USA) 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-2, (2) Rafael Nadal (Spa) bt Lukas Lacko (Svk) 6-2 6-2 6-2
Women's Singles First Round:(9) Vera Zvonareva (Rus) bt Kristina Kucova (Svk) 6-2 6-0, Iveta Benesova (Cze) bt Kai Chen Chang (Tpe) 7-5 6-2, Tathiana Garbin (Ita) bt (28) Elena Vesnina (Rus) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4, Yaroslava Shvedova (Kaz) bt Kimiko Date Krumm (Jpn) 6-4 6-2, Stefanie Voegele (Swi) bt Melinda Czink (Hun) 7-5 6-7 (5-7) 9-7, (7) Victoria Azarenka (Blr) bt Stephanie Cohen Aloro (Fra) 6-2 6-0, (4) Caroline Wozniacki (Den) bt Aleksandra Wozniak (Can) 6-4 6-2, Julia Goerges (Ger) bt Tamira Paszek (Aut) 6-0 3-6 6-3, Tsvetana Pironkova (Bul) bt Galina Voskoboeva (Kaz) 6-4 6-4, (29) Shahar Peer (Isr) bt Lucie Hradecka (Cze) 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-1, (22) Daniela Hantuchova (Svk) bt Viktoriya Kutuzova (Ukr) 3-6 6-1 7-5, Sofia Arvidsson (Swe) bt Jarmila Groth (Svk) 6-2 4-6 6-4, Agnes Szavay (Hun) bt Stephanie Dubois (Can) 6-3 6-2, (16) Na Li (Chn) bt Marina Erakovic (Nzl) 6-2 6-0
Second Round:Justine Henin (Bel) bt (5) Elena Dementieva (Rus) 7-5 7-6 (8-6), (27) Alisa Kleybanova (Rus) bt Sorana-Mihaela Cirstea (Rom) 6-4 6-3, Sara Errani (Ita) bt Ekaterina Makarova (Rus) 6-2 6-3, Yanina Wickmayer (Bel) bt (12) Flavia Pennetta (Ita) 7-6 (7-2) 6-1, (15) Kim Clijsters (Bel) bt Tamarine Tanasugarn (Tha) 6-3 6-3, (19) Nadia Petrova (Rus) bt Kaia Kanepi (Est) 6-4 6-4, Angelique Kerber (Ger) bt (26) Aravane Rezai (Fra) 6-2 6-3, (3) Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) bt Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus) 6-2 6-2, (8) Jelena Jankovic (Ser) bt Katie O'Brien (Gbr) 6-2 6-2, (31) Alona Bondarenko (Ukr) bt Polona Hercog (Slo) 6-4 7-5, Jie Zheng (Chn) bt (24) Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (Spa) 2-6 6-2 6-3, (11) Marion Bartoli (Fra) bt Sandra Zahlavova (Cze) 6-4 6-4, Maria Kirilenko (Rus) bt Yvonne Meusburger (Aut) 6-3 6-1, Roberta Vinci (Ita) bt Vania King (USA) 7-6 (9-7) 7-5, Elena Baltacha (Gbr) bt (30) Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukr) 6-2 7-5, (2) Dinara Safina (Rus) bt Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova (Cze) 6-3 6-4
Men's Doubles First Round:(1) Bob Bryan (USA) & Mike Bryan (USA) bt Michael Berrer (Ger) & Simon Greul (Ger) 6-4 7-5, Rik De Voest (Rsa) & Scott Lipsky (USA) bt Rohan Bopanna (Ind) & Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (Pak) 4-6 6-1 7-6 (8-6), (17) Jurgen Melzer (Aut) & Philipp Petzschner (Ger) bt Marc Lopez (Spa) & Santiago Ventura (Spa) 6-4 6-1, Leonardo Mayer (Arg) & Horacio Zeballos (Arg) bt (12) Marcelo Melo (Bra) & Bruno Soares (Bra) 7-6 (7-3) 6-4, (7) Mariusz Fyrstenberg (Pol) & Marcin Matkowski (Pol) bt Ross Hutchins (Gbr) & Jordan Kerr (Aus) 6-4 2-6 7-6 (7-4), Colin Fleming (Gbr) & Ken Skupski (Gbr) bt Yen-Hsun Lu (Tpe) & Janko Tipsarevic (Ser) 7-5 6-4, Prakash Amritraj (Ind) & Somdev Devvarman (Ind) bt James Cerretani (USA) & Travis Rettenmaier (USA) 5-7 6-4 7-5, (5) Lukasz Kubot (Pol) & Oliver Marach (Aut) bt Juan Ignacio Chela (Arg) & Daniel Gimeno-Traver (Spa) 6-7 (1-7) 6-3 6-1, Kaden Hensel (Aus) & Greg Jones (Aus) bt Paolo Lorenzi (Ita) & Christophe Rochus (Bel) 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 7-6 (7-2), Lucas Arnold Ker (Arg) & Horia Tecau (Rom) bt Wesley Moodie (Rsa) & Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-5, (8) Marcel Granollers (Spa) & Tommy Robredo (Spa) bt Matthew Ebden (Aus) & Brydan Klein (Aus) 6-2 6-4, Johan Brunstrom (Swe) & Jean-Julien Rojer (Aho) bt Alejandro Falla (Col) & Santiago Giraldo (Col) 6-2 6-3, Arnaud Clement (Fra) & Jonathan Erlich (Isr) bt (10) Julian Knowle (Aut) & Robert Lindstedt (Swe) 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-4, Rameez Junaid (Aus) & Peter Luczak (Aus) bt (15) Jaroslav Levinsky (Cze) & Travis Parrott (USA) 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2, Philipp Marx (Ger) & Igor Zelenay (Svk) bt Nick Lindhal (Aus) & Matt Reid (Aus) 6-3 6-4, Albert Montanes (Spa) & Martin Vassallo Arguello (Arg) bt Jose Acasuso (Arg) & Sebastian Prieto (Arg) 6-4 6-4, (2) Daniel Nestor (Can) & Nenad Zimonjic (Ser) bt Samuel Groth (Aus) & Jason Kubler (Aus) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3
Women's Doubles First Round:(1) Cara Black (Zim) & Liezel Huber (USA) bt Tatjana Malek (Ger) & Andrea Petkovic (Ger) 6-4 6-4, Timea Bacsinszky (Swi) & Tathiana Garbin (Ita) bt Anabel Medina Garrigues (Spa) & Caroline Wozniacki (Den) 6-4 6-4, (3) Nuria Llagostera Vives (Spa) & Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (Spa) bt Jelena Dokic (Aus) & Petra Kvitova (Cze) 7-5 6-0, (6) Lisa Raymond (USA) & Rennae Stubbs (Aus) bt Mariya Koryttseva (Ukr) & Darya Kustova (Blr) 6-4 6-1, Julie Coin (Fra) & Marie-Eve Pelletier (Can) bt Jarmila Groth (Svk) & Olivia Rogowska (Aus) 6-3 7-5, Yung-Jan Chan (Tpe) & Monica Niculescu (Rom) bt Monique Adamczak (Aus) & Nicole Kriz (Aus) 6-3 6-1, Klaudia Jans (Pol) & Alicja Rosolska (Pol) bt Alicia Molik (Aus) & Meghann Shaughnessy (USA) 2-6 7-5 6-4, (4) Su-Wei Hsieh (Tpe) & Shuai Peng (Chn) bt Julia Goerges (Ger) & Arantxa Parra Santonja (Spa) 6-3 6-4, (8) Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) & Zi Yan (Chn) bt Kirsten Flipkens (Bel) & Melanie Oudin (USA) 6-3 6-2, Andrea Hlavackova (Cze) & Lucie Hradecka (Cze) bt Anna Chakvetadze (Rus) & Tamira Paszek (Aut) 6-4 6-3, (2) Venus Williams (USA) & Serena Williams (USA) bt Sophie Ferguson (Aus) & Jessica Moore (Aus) 6-1 6-1
