Australian Open Betting / Sean Calvert / 20 January 2009 /

Sean Calvert talks us through day two of the Australian Open where Andy Murray was far from tested, Gonzalez beat Hewitt in a marathon slog and Jo Wolfried Tsonga looks a lively contender.

Day Two of the Australian Open in Melbourne promised much, with the first sight of Andy Murray being high on the viewing agenda.

The Scot was opening proceedings on Rod Laver on another boiling hot day, but his clash with Andrei Pavel, if you can call it that, turned into a bit of a damp squib.

The Romanian creaked onto court looking in roughly the same condition as countryman Ilie Nastase did in the US Open seniors last year, except he didn't last as long.

Murray took the first set without breaking sweat and soon after it was all over, as Pavel stumbled his way off court claiming a variety of injuries and no doubt headed straight for the Sanatogen 50 Plus.

The highlight of the first round draw, not just for the vociferous home crowd, simply had to be Lleyton Hewitt v Fernando Gonzalez and it did not disappoint.

There was barely a portion of Gonzalez's legs that were visible by the fifth set underneath patches of tape and he was undergoing some severe deep tissue massage to keep himself going at the changeovers.

The crowd were indulging in that typical Australian sports fan out of rythym chanting of 'Waltzing Matilda', fuelled no doubt by numerous cans of VB combined with the scorching summer sun.

The support didn't do much for Hewitt though as he kicked off game six with a double and Gonzalez ended it with a cross court forehand pass before giving Hewitt a taste of his own medicine with a loud 'Come On!!'. I enjoyed that one.

Hewitt looked cooked and Gonzo was trading at [1.1] and looking all over the winner as he produced a love game to take a 5-2 lead.

The Adelaide boy stuck at it as ever and held for a 3-5 deficit, but after another prolonged bout of massage, the Chilean served out a love game confidently to defeat Hewitt for the second time in three years at the Open.

Hewitt was left to consider what might have been, as yet again he was beaten early in his home slam, where he has just once progressed past the last sixteen.

For Gonzalez, well at times he looked back to his best on courts he tends to play well on and perhaps the break-up with former coach Larry Stefanki will see him play with a bit more freedom and challenge this event once more.

He is into [140.0] for the title now, having traded as high as [560.0] at one stage and faces the winner of Guillermo Canas v Dieter Kindlmann in round two.

Over on Show Court 2, Gael Monfils was entertaining the crowd with his usual mix of muscle twanging dives, stretches and leaps against Martin Vassallo Arguello, who is known mainly for being Davydenko's opponent in 'that' match in Poland.

The Frenchman took the first two sets easily, but found himself struggling with injury (what are the chances!?) and a break down in the third set.

Monfils is a man who can get injured going to buy a pint of milk at the local store and you never really know if there's anything wrong with him or not, but his price eased to [80.0] anyway.

He managed to get back on serve and brought up match point by winning a stunning rally with the kind of athletic ability that makes you wince just watching. He can't have been too injured then.

The Argentine knew he was done and a weak backhand gave Monfils the match.

Earlier in the day there were wins for Ernests Gulbis, Gilles Simon, Richard Gasquet, Fernando Verdasco and Mario Ancic and in the women's singles Serena and Venus both progressed without any problems.

Elena Dementieva, as ever, had a struggle in her match against with Kristina Barrois, but eventually came through in three sets and British interest is still alive in the women's singles as Elena Baltacha defeated former prospect Anna-Lena Groenefeld in straight sets.

Over on Court 7, Igor Andreev was having a major struggle against the might of Peter Polansky.

The Russian lost the opening two sets, before finding his range and storming back to take the next three and the match to set up an interesting clash with Gulbis in round two.

Next up on the Hisense Arena was potential Murray opponent Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who was around the [1.3] mark to beat Argentine clay courter Juan Monaco and those odds looked generous as last year's runner-up cruised into a two set lead.

There are always injury concerns over Tsonga, which would have been reflected in the pre-match odds, but he seemed in fine physical condition out there, although Monaco hasn't got what it takes to trouble a fit Tsonga in any case.

The underdog gave it a go, but once Tsonga went 3-0 up in the third, Monaco's racquet bore the brunt of his frustration and the number five seed eased into round two, with a bagel set, earning an outright quote of [28.0] in the process.

He'll be a test for Murray if he stays fit.

From there, it was a choice of more live tennis or listening to Greg Rusedksi. So, quickly over to Margaret Court then, as women's number eight seed Svetlana Kuznetsova was becoming embroiled in a battle with Aussie Anastasia Rodionova.

The Russian-born Melbourne resident was sporting the kind of sunglasses that American pensioners tend to favour and it appeared to be working, as she took the second set to level at 1-1.
That was as good as it got though for the local girl as Kuznetsova broke in the first game of set three and the trainer was called onto court for Rodionova.

The by-now-leathered crowd, in predictable style, attempted to rouse their hope by launching into that ridiculous '5..4..3..2..1..woooaah' chant that mars sporting events across the country, but it was to no avail, as Kuznetsova claimed a 6-3 final set win.

And then there was world number one Rafael Nadal, who cruised to a straight-sets win against Christophe Rochus, without breaking sweat. He looked pretty good but Rafa will face sterner challenges in the next two weeks or so than the little Belgian.

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