Murray under the microscope in Melbourne

Andy Murray kicks off against the wily Andrei Pavel tomorrow in what could be a marvellous next couple of weeks for the Scot.

After an impressive start of the season, with wins in Abu Dhabi and Doha many have been speculating that this is Murray’s year and this is his Slam to lose, with some British bookies tipping him as favourite. Even the Australian media have jumped on the band wagon with lots of media coverage of the 21 year old Scot, demonstrating their belief that he could be the man to win in Melbourne.

With all this expectation going into the Aussie Open, Murray begins his long trail against a less dangerous opponent than what Tsonga turned out to be last year, facing 34 year old Andrei Pavel. A few years ago this match up could have been considered as a tricky tie, as he was once ranked as high as 13th in 2004. Although after an injury prone 2008 have seen the Romanian plummet down the rankings to 1141. The pair last met in 2005 at the US Open first round where a lot younger and not as well conditioned Murray defeated him in five battling sets, which even saw Britain number one physically sick from exhaustion. However this time round it should be more of a breeze for the now world number four, who’s off season training has given him the muscle and the stamina to add to his ability, giving him an excellent chance in collecting one of Tennis’s top prizes.

WATCH LIVE
Murray v Pavel tonight BBC 2 at 11.50pm GMT

‘British Women fall’

From four to one, today was not the greatest day for the British women contingence. The fact four British girls managed to qualify for a slam is quite remarkable considering recent history. However qualifying for a slam is one thing winning in a slam is another. British No.1 Anne Keothavong faced the toughest of the draws against world number 18 Anna Chakvetadze. Anne did fancy her chances going in to the match after good early season form lifting her to a career high 53 in the world. This good form though only appeared in spells, especially in the second set where she competed well to win 7-4 in the tie break. However two poor sets in the first and last saw her crash out losing both of them 6-1. This British disappointment was also compounded by loses of the other Brits in today’s draw. Katie O’Brian, who did very well to qualify, lost against Romanian Monica Niculescu 6-4, 6-4. While the other automatic qualifier Melanie South was displaced in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 by the former Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli.

The last Brit left in the draw is Elena Baltacha, who has had previous success in this tournament after reaching the third round back in 2006, plays Anna-Lena Groenefeld tomorrow.

Today's Men's Results (Click Here)
Today's Women's Results (Click Here)

Andy Murray image by saturnshire

By Geoff Berkeley