Aussie Open: Top seeds Murray, Kerber advance into next round

MELBOURNE - In his first Grand Slam match with the elevated status of having a knighthood and the No. 1 ranking, Andy Murray berated himself when he made mistakes and frequently yelled during a 7-5, 7-6 (5), 6-2 win over Illya Marchenko.

In other words, nothing much has changed.

The five-time finalist started on Rod Laver Arena on Monday (Jan 16), taking the first step in his bid for a first Australian Open title.

Angelique Kerber, who is defending a major title and is also the No. 1 seed at a Grand Slam for the first time, had some nervous moments in her 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 win over Lesia Tsurenko.

Kerber won her first Grand Slam title here last year, beating Serena Williams in the final after saving match point in the first round.

So after wasting a match point before her serve was broken as Tsurenko rallied to win the second set, Kerber (below. Photo: Getty Images) said her mind raced back 12 months.

"To be honest, I was thinking about this,'' she said. "When I lost the second set, and I had match point, I was thinking about my match last year in the first round - first rounds are always tough.''

Murray has lost four of the last six finals here - including the last two - to six-time champion Novak Djokovic. But he did take something off his long-time friend at the end of last year when he replaced Djokovic in the top ranking during a stunning finish to the season.

In Queen Elizabeth II's New Year's honours list, Murray received a knighthood from the British monarch for reaching the pinnacle of the sport.

Murray said the ranking and the civic honours won't change anything, and he faces ``the same pressure, same expectations.''

He admits there's one thing he desperately wants to change. "I've never won here _ I'm going to try to change that this year,'' he said.

Two players who could potentially stand in his way - No. 5 Kei Nishikori and No. 10 Tomas Berdych - had first-round wins earlier in the day. Another, Roger Federer, was set to play his first tour-level match in more than six months when he played Jurgen Melzer in a night match.

There are 18 American women in the draw, and two recorded wins in the first two matches on Rod Laver.

Venus Williams (above. Photo: AP) went onto main court right after Shelby Rogers' upset 6-3, 6-1 win over fourth-seeded Simona Halep, a result which sent the former French Open finalist out in the first round again.

Williams also lost in the first round last year, and didn't plan to replicate Halep's early exit.

The seven-time major winner beat Kateryna Kozlova 7-6 (5), 7-5 despite making 48 unforced errors.

"It's never easy playing the first round - you're just trying to find the rhythm,'' Williams said. "She played amazing. It's very satisfying to get through a match against an opponent who is on fire.''

Rogers made a surprising run to the French Open quarter-finals before losing to eventual champion Garbine Muguruza last year, when she was ranked No. 108, but only advanced beyond the second round at one other tournament in 2016.

But the run at Roland Garros gave her confidence. "The biggest thing I took away from that was just that I can compete with the top players in the world and I'm good enough,'' said Rogers, who was playing just her second main draw match at the Australian Open.

Halep said she'd been hampered by left knee pain that was compounded by the pressure of the match.

Seventh-seeded Muguruza saved a set point in the first set and needed a medical timeout before advancing 7-5, 6-4 over Marina Erakovic.

Also advancing were Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig, No. 8 Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 10 Carla Suarez, No. 11 Elina Svitolina, No. 20 Zhang Shuai, No. 24 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and No. 27 Irina-Camelia Begu. US qualifier Julia Boserup beat 2011 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 6-4.

CoCo Vandeweghe recovered a service break, and from an illness, to beat No. 15-seeded Roberta Vinci 6-1, 7-6 (3).  Other seeded players ousted were No. 19 Kiki Bertens, No. 23 Darya Kasatkina and No. 26 Laura Siegemund.

The 16-year-old Destanee Aiava became the first player born in this millennium to play in the main draw of a major, but the milestone match ended in a 6-3, 7-6 (4) loss to German qualifier Mona Barthel.

On the men's side, Nishikori needed 3 hours, 34 minutes to beat Andrey Kuznetsov 7-5, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6), 6-2, but Berdych only played a set - which he won 6-1 - before Luca Vanni retired from their match.

Seventh-seeded Marin Cilic struggled before beating Jerzy Janowicz 4-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3, and No. 14 Nick Kyrgios returned from his suspension for underperforming in Shanghai last year by racing through a 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 win against Gastao Elias.

Other men advancing included No. 12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 2008 finalist, No. 19 John Isner, No. 23 Jack Sock, No. 27 Bernard Tomic, No. 29 Viktor Troicki and No. 31 Sam Querrey. No. 16 Lucas Pouille lost to qualifier Alexander Bublik and No. 26 Albert Ramos was beaten by Slovakian qualifier Lukas Lacko. AP