ANDY MURRAY has joined the growing list of players whose Australian Open preparations have been hampered by the unseasonal weather as rain continued to mar the build-up to the first grand slam of the year.
Compared to the devastating floods that have hit Queensland, Melbourne has not been badly affected, but the conditions have certainly proved a challenge for players and officials alike.
Murray had planned to repeat the warm-up schedule that served him so well last year – playing in the Hopman Cup with Laura Robson and then a match at Kooyong a few days before the start of the tournament.
But the Scot’s meeting with Marin Cilic, who he beat in the semi-finals in Melbourne 12 months ago, fell victim to the rain yesterday and seems unlikely to be rescheduled.
The match was outside the Kooyong Classic itself, and tournament director Colin Stubs said: “Precedence has to go to the matches of the players who signed up. Andy didn’t.”
The rain also meant the second day of Open qualifying was washed out – the first time a whole day’s play has been lost to the weather since the tournament moved to Melbourne Park back in 1988.
British trio Anne Keothavong, Heather Watson and Katie O’Brien were all scheduled to play their first-round matches and must now hope for better weather today.
Second seed Keothavong takes on Belarusian Darya Kustova while O’Brien faces 16th seed Mandy Minella and teenager Watson, who recently broke into the top 150, will play Kristina Mladenovic of France.
One player who did manage to complete her match yesterday was Elena Baltacha, who was beaten 6-3 6-4 by Roberta Vinci in the second round of the Hobart International.
The contest began on Tuesday but the British number one was philosophical about the delay and declared herself content with her preparations after struggling with illness over the festive season.
The 25-year-old, who has twice reached the third round in Melbourne, said: “It’s been a bit of a strange week.
“I don’t think I’ve been at a tournament with so much rain, certainly not in Australia.
“To be honest, though, seeing the images of what’s happening in Queensland, you put everything in perspective.
“It’s really not that bad. At the end of the day, we’re only playing a tennis match.”
The floods have also been in the minds of the world’s top stars, and it was announced Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will be part of an exhibition at Melbourne Park on Sunday to raise money for those affected by the disaster.
The pair will be joined by Novak Djokovic, Kim Clijsters, Lleyton Hewitt and Queensland-born Pat Rafter and Sam Stosur for the ‘Rally for Relief’ match.
