Murray’s ready for Gicquel in night clash
BRITAIN’S No1 Andy Murray will get his first taste of evening conditions when he takes on Frenchman Marc Gicquel in the second round of the Australian Open today.
Murray has enjoyed maximum recovery time from his first-round blitzing of South African Kevin Anderson on Monday, while Gicquel, a Melbourne quarter-finalist in 2008, is back on court less than 24 hours after coming through a rain-delayed opening game against Simone Bolelli 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-2), 6-3.
World No58 Gicquel has met Murray just once before, battling back from a set down in Rotterdam last year, only to retire injured in the third.
“Gicquel’s a tough player, with a lot of experience,” Murray warned.
Also in action is British women’s No1 Elena Baltacha, who plays 30th seed Kateryna Bondarenko, while No2 Katie O’Brien takes on former world No1 Jelena Jankovic.
O’Brien, 23, put in a dominant display to beat Austria’s Patricia Mayr 6-3, 6-3 and record only her second Grand Slam victory following a first-round success at Wimbledon in 2007.
“It was a good solid performance,” O’Brien said.
Meanwhile, in the men’s, Ireland’s Louk Sorensen made history after clinching a shock 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory over Taiwan’s Yen-Hsun Lu.
It meant world No284 Sorensen, became the first man from the Republic of Ireland to reach the main draw of a Grand Slam since Matt Doyle lost in the first round in Melbourne in 1985. Sorensen now plays 33rd seed John Isner, of the USA, in round two.