Medvedev, Murray hog spotlight

MELBOURNE, Australia – Daniil Medvedev underlined his status as the man to beat in the absence of Novak Djokovic with a convincing first-round victory at the Australian Open on Tuesday.

Top-10 women’s seeds Garbine Muguruza, Iga Swiatek and Anett Kontaveit also all made comfortable starts to their Melbourne title charges, while former number one Simona Halep won despite struggling with her serve.

But there was defeat at the first hurdle for 19-year-old US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez, the 23rd seed going down, 6-4, 6-2, to Australian wildcard Maddison Inglis, to the delight of the home crowd.

After Sunday’s deportation of men’s defending champion and top seed Djokovic, the first Grand Slam of the year is now in full swing on day two and eager to move on from the visa saga.

Russia’s Medvedev, the second seed and favorite to lift his second major, made light work of 91st-ranked Henri Laaksonen on Rod Laver Arena, dismantling the Swiss, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).

Meanwhile, Andy Murray battled to his first win at the Australian Open since 2017 with an epic five-set victory over 21st seed Nikoloz Basilashvili, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4.

The three-time Grand Slam champion, playing with a metal hip following a career-saving surgery in 2019, wrestled with the Georgian for almost four hours before claiming his place in the second round.

With Djokovic out of the picture and Roger Federer not in Melbourne because of injury, the draw has opened up for the 25-year-old Medvedev and Spanish great Rafael Nadal.

In the women’s draw, Spanish world number three Muguruza, a finalist at Melbourne Park two years ago, eased past 77th-ranked Frenchwoman Clara Burel, 6-3, 6-4.

Halep labored into round two, 6-4, 6-3, after an error-strewn clash with Poland’s Magdalena Frech.