IT IS more than six years since Andy Murray last lost before the fourth round of a grand slam event, but there will still be no complacency when he plays Andrey Rublev at the Australian Open today.
Murray will have to adjust to a big drop in temperature from his opener – from 32° Celsius to around 19° as colder weather sweeps in – but it will be the game of Rublev that he will have to take care of.
At 19, the Russian is just making his way on the tennis tour, but with a career-high ranking of 152, he is no mug, as he showed when winning through three matches in qualifying to make the main draw, and then beating the seasoned Yen-Hsun Lu in round one.
That was his first grand slam victory, but on the evidence of his junior career, which included winning the French Open title in 2014, he will earn many more.
By the time Murray plays Rublev, around 9.30am UK time, the temperature will be more Melrose than Melbourne, which will take a bit of getting used to.
But Rublev is a handy player and can’t wait to test himself against Murray.
“I have never practised with him,” said Rublev, who admitted his favourite players were Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. “It is going to be a great experience.
“I cannot say anything about what to expect because I have never played one of the top guys. It is a different level. I am not even on the ATP Tour yet.
“I am still No 152, so it is always tough to play in good tournaments because most of them I am not getting in.”
Rublev would have been impressed by one of his idols yesterday as Nadal showed he might have a hand in the destination of the title.
Twelve months ago, the 14-time grand slam champion was beaten in the first round by his fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.
Having battled a wrist injury for much of the second half of 2016, Nadal missed the end of the year to recover and yesterday, in his favourite conditions, he excelled as he beat the awkward Florian Mayer 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
“I think I played a solid match,” Nadal said. “It was great to be back in the big stadium.
“I am happy the way I am playing. I had good weeks of practice. It’s never easy the first round, there are always a little bit more nerves at the beginning.
“I didn’t play against an easy opponent. The way that he plays is not a conventional game. He changes a lot of the rhythm of the point, changing with a slice, then he hits a winner, then he plays a little bit slower ball. It’s not easy to read his game. So I am just happy the way I played. I played good all the key points. That’s very important for me.”
Six-time champion Novak Djokovic, seeded No 2 behind Murray this year, began impressively, was tested in the middle, and eased away in the end to record a 6-1, 7-6, 6-2 win over Verdasco.
The Spaniard had pushed Djokovic hard in Doha two weeks ago, holding five match points before fading in three sets, but the Serb put his foot down from the start.
Ranked 40, but once as high as No 7, Verdasco led by a break of serve twice in the second set, but he was not consistent enough and Djokovic clinched a straightforward victory.
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