Murray set for 'big-hitting' Rublev on Wednesday
| Australian Open 2017 |
|---|
| Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne Dates: 16-29 Jan |
| Coverage: Daily live commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra; live text on selected matches on the BBC Sport website; TV highlights on BBC Two and online from 21 January. |
World number one Andy Murray has admitted he does not know much about his Australian Open second round opponent Andrey Rublev.
Murray will face the 19-year-old Russian, ranked 152nd in the world, on Wednesday from 09:30 GMT.
Fellow Briton Dan Evans will also be in action in Melbourne, against seventh seed Marin Cilic.
“I’ve never hit with him or played against him, but I’ve seen him play and he goes for it,” Murray said.
“I know a little bit about him and he doesn’t hold back. He hits a big ball.”
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Rublev is appearing in his second Grand Slam – he was knocked out in the first round of the US Open in 2015.
“I’m so excited, I have nothing to lose. He’s the best tennis player at the moment. So I will just try to take a great experience from this,” he said.
Murray was left frustrated after his first round victory over Illya Marchenko, taking two hours and 48 minutes to register a three-set win.
“I have had a lot of tough losses here, for sure,” said Murray, who has been beaten in the final in Melbourne five times in seven years.
“I have played some of my best tennis on hard courts here. But I keep coming back to try. I’ll keep doing that until I’m done.”
Elsewhere, Roger Federer faces American Noah Rubin from 04:00, while fourth seed Stan Wawrinka will play Rubin’s compatriot Steve Johnson.
World number one Angelique Kerber plays Germany’s Carina Witthoeft, while Serena and Venus Williams appear in the first round of the doubles, playing Hungary’s Timea Babos and Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Analysis
Great Britain’s Davis Cup captain Leon Smith
We’ll learn a lot more about Rublev in this match. He is a big-hitting player who goes after the shots and plays high-octane tennis.
It’ll be good to see what this young man can bring but it’s a very tough ask for someone of that age against Andy.
It’s an environment that Andy really enjoys. You would expect him to get the job done, but he will study him and won’t take anything for granted.