Murray Advances As Medvedev Set Up Kyrgios Clash

Former world number one Andy Murray turned back the clock in typically combative style and Daniil Medvedev succeeded in beating day two of the Australian open yesterday.

In the women’s draw, top-10 seeds Garbine Muguruza, Iga Swiatek and Anett Kontaveit all made comfortable starts to their Melbourne title charges, while Simona Halep and Aryna Sabalenka also won despite struggling with their serves.

Emma Raducanu, the US Open champion, was also victorious on her tournament debut but there was defeat at the first hurdle for her fellow 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez — the woman Raducanu beat in the Flushing Meadows decider.

Canadian Fernandez, seeded 23, lost 6-4, 6-2 to Australian wild card Maddison Inglis, much to the delight of the home crowd.

After the expulsion of defending men’s champion and top seed Novak Djokovic on Sunday, the first Grand Slam of the year is in full swing and many are eager to get out of the visa saga.

His epic five-set victory over 21st seed Nikoloz Basilashvili was hugely symbolic — the Briton departed Melbourne Park in 2019 not knowing if he would ever be back because of hip trouble.

But here he was, rolling back the years and heading into round two.