Federer wobbles but roars back to reach third round

The 17-times grand slam champion, still finding his feet after a six-month break, had to save two set points and rally from 5-2 down in the third before closing out a galvanising win on a breezy afternoon at Rod Laver Arena. Rubin, a 20-year-old baseline hustler with a big serve and powerful forehand, played above his 200th ranking and Federer doffed his cap to the Long Island native. But the Swiss master said he would need to play better against big-hitting Berdych, despite winning their last five meetings, including a comfortable quarter-final victory at Melbourne Park last year.

Andy Murray looked every bit the world number one as he gave a Russian teenager Andrey Rublev a lesson in Grand Slam tennis to reach the third round of the with a 6-3 6-0 6-2 win on Wednesday. The Briton was troubled only briefly by a rolled ankle after taking a nasty tumble in the third set on Rod Laver Arena and raced on to a meeting with American Sam Querrey in one hour, 37 minutes. Five-times a losing finalist at Melbourne Park, Murray had laboured through his opening round victory over Illya Marchenko in the full heat of the opening day of the tournament.

Kei Nishikori shook off the effects of a tough five-set victory in the opening round and took advantage of Jeremy Chardy’s inconsistent service game to advance to the third round here on Wednesday. Nishikori beat Chardy 6-3 6-4 6-3 on Hisense Arena as the Frenchman wasted several opportunities to deliver a real challenge to the fifth seed. Chardy, who beat Nicolas Almagro in the first round when the Spaniard retired after four games, broke the Japanese three times in the match, only to broken right back. He also blew several rallies he had control of.