Australian Open 2015: Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova in third round action
Friday 23 January 2015 07:50, UK
Andy Murray will be looking for another straightforward win over Portugal’s Joao Sousa in the third round of the Australian Open on Friday.
Murray’s convincing 6-1 6-3 6-2 win over Marinko Matosevic set him up for the tie, while Slovakian Martin Klizan’s retirement in the fourth set of the second round allowed Sousa to advance to meet the sixth seed.
The British No 1 has beaten Sousa in all three of their previous matches, including two straight-set wins on hard court last year. Murray will contest his fourth meeting with the Portuguese No 1 at the Hisense Arena in Melbourne at around 4am GMT.
The Rod Laver Arena will host a star-studded line-up with second seeds Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova, as well as Rafael Nadal taking to the famous court.
Roger Federer’s return to form was almost scuppered by an unusual injury in the second round, which he said felt like a bee sting on the little finger of his right hand, against Italy’s Simone Bolelli.
After losing the first set he then defeated Bolelli 3-6 6-3 6-2 6-2 to secure the next round match against another Italian, Andreas Seppi.
Nadal was also suffering in the early rounds with a severe bout of cramp but battled through in five sets to beat American Tim Smyczek. He will meet world No 106 Dudi Sela in the third round, hoping to continue his charge in the bottom half of the draw.
This will be the first match between the two on tour and the Israeli could provide an interesting challenge for the Spaniard who has struggled since returning from a wrist injury and appendix surgery last last year.
Meanwhile the recently engaged seventh seed Tomas Berdych will hope the serotonin levels are still high when he takes on Serbia’s Viktor Troicki on the Margaret Court.
Women's draw
Maria Sharapova will return to the Rod Laver Arena to meet Zarina Diyas from Kazakhstan on Friday. The 2008 champion’s advance was not without a scare however, when her Russian compatriot Alexandra Panova took her to two match points, before missing the chance of an upset 6-1 4-6 7-5.
Elswhere, third seed, Romania's Simona Halep will take on crowd favourite American Bethanie Mattek-Sands, after easing past Jarmila Gajdošová 6-2 6-2.
The photographer's favourite and seventh seed Eugenie Bouchard will hope to avenge last year’s Alcapulco quarter-final defeat to world No 36 Caroline Garcia of France in their third round match.
