By ,
Published January 08, 2015
Melbourne, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) - Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Roger Federer were easy first-round winners Tuesday at the Australian Open.
The reigning U.S. and French Open champion and world No. 1 Nadal took the first set from Bernard Tomic, 6-4, before the Aussie decided to retire to a chorus of boos, citing a groin injury, on a hot Day 2 at Melbourne Park.
The 21-year-old Tomic was a runner-up in Sydney last week.
Nadal captured his lone Aussie Open title in 2009 and was the runner-up here in 2012. He missed last year's edition due to injuries.
Up next for the 13-time major champion will be 17-year-old Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Meanwhile, the fourth-seeded and three-time Aussie Open runner-up Murray made short work of Japan's Go Soeda, routing him 6-1, 6-1, 6-3, while a sixth- seeded Federer dominated Aussie James Duckworth 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in 1 hour, 46 minutes at Rod Laver Arena.
Murray, who lost to Novak Djokovic in last year's Melbourne finale, will face Frenchman Vincent Millot on Thursday.
The Swiss legend Federer, who owns a men's-record 17 major titles and is appearing in a record 57th straight Grand Slam event, is looking to win for a fifth time in Melbourne and for the first time since 2010. He was also a runner-up here to Nadal back in 2009.
Asked how he handled the heat on Day 2, the 32-year-old Federer said: "I'm here. I'm speaking. Actually, it's not crazy. I'm feeling OK right now.
"It was very dry, just hot, stinging sort of sun. Depending on where you come from it has a bigger effect on you, this type of heat. So it's very personal, and it can become just a very mental thing -- you just can't accept that it's hot."
The former world No. 1 Federer, who has reached the semifinals or better in Melbourne every year since 2004, will meet Slovenian Blaz Kavcic in his next outing.
Last week's Sydney champion, fifth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro, was a 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 winner over American Rhyne Williams. Up next for the former U.S. Open champ will be Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut.
Former Aussie Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, seeded 10th this year, cruised past Italian Filippo Volandri 7-5, 6-3, 6-3, while 11th-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic downed Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver 7-6 (7-2), 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.
Winning the Auckland title last week may have taken too much out of 13th- seeded John Isner. The highest-seeded American lost the first two sets to Slovak Martin Klizan, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6), before retiring because of a foot injury on Tuesday. Isner did not appear in last year's Aussie Open due to a bone bruise in his right knee.
Fans sat through temperatures that reached well over 100 degrees and watched local favorite Lleyton Hewitt fall to 24th-seeded Andreas Seppi, who saved a match point before winning 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 5-7, 5-7, 7-5 in a grueling 4-hour, 18-minute affair. The former No. 1 Hewitt was making his 18th straight appearance in the event, where he finished as a runner-up back in 2005.
Sixteenth seed Kei Nishikori of Japan outlasted Aussie Marinko Matosevic 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 in 3 hours, 41 minutes.
In other action involving seeds, No. 18 Gilles Simon outlasted German Daniel Brands 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 16-14; No. 22 Grigor Dimitrov grounded American Bradley Klahn 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3; No. 25 Gael Monfils dismissed American Ryan Harrison 6-4, 6-4, 6-4; No. 26 Feliciano Lopez topped Indian Somdev Devvarman 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2); No. 27 Benoit Paire doused Canadian Frank Dancevic 7-6 (14-12), 6-3, 6-4; and No. 31 Fernando Verdasco overcame Chinese Ze Zhang 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.
Several other men reached the second round including Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci, Croat Marin Cilic, Aussie Nick Kyrgios, Romanian Victor Hanescu, last week's Auckland runner-up Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei, and Americans Donald Young and Jack Sock. Young defeated Dutchman Robin Haase 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, 1-0, retired, while Sock subdued German Tobias Kamke 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.
The second round will get underway Wednesday, as the second-seeded former world No. 1 Djokovic will take on Argentine Leonardo Mayer. The formidable Djokovic is seeking a fourth straight and fifth Aussie Open title in seven years.
In other Wednesday action involving top-10 seeds, No. 3 David Ferrer will meet France's Adrian Mannarino, No. 7 Tomas Berdych will battle Frenchman Kenny De Schepper, No. 8 Stanislas Wawrinka will be opposed by Colombian Alejandro Falla, and No. 9 Richard Gasquet will take on one-time world No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko.
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