Maria’s form dips as mercury rises

The heat — 36 C (97 F) at midday and rising above 38 C (100 F) — was even worse on the court surface, where Sharapova said it was 10 C (20 F) hotter as she held on to beat France’s Camille Pin 6-3, 4-6, 9-7. “It’s inhumanly possible to play three hours in that kind of heat,” said Sharapova, seeking her third Grand Slam title and second in a row. “I don’t think our bodies were made to do that. I was so delusional I couldn’t think.”

Sharapova appeared to have drawn a mismatch against Pin, who has only reached the second round twice in 15 majors. Pin’s first serves averaged 50 kph less than the Sharapova’s, and Pin was mostly a retriever. But reigning US Open champion Sharapova was battling herself, committing 24 unforced errors in the first seven games alone.

“In the middle of the second set I started getting some pinches in my abdominal muscle,” she said.

The heat policy was invoked halfway through her match. No new matches were allowed to start on outside courts, and the roofs were closed on the two show courts once the ongoing matches were finished.

In the last match of the day, home favourite No 19-seeded Lleyton Hewitt, a two-time Grand Slam singles champion whose coach quit two weeks ago and had played only two singles matches since September due to injuries, showed his fighting spirit as he rallied to beat American qualifier Michael Russell 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

Eighth-seeded David Nalbandian grew stronger in the heat as Janko Tipsarevic wilted. Tipsarevic retired with heat exhaustion in the fifth — more than 90 minutes after he wasted his chance at serving for the match — with Nalbandian leading 6-7 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-0, 2-1.

Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean, a quarter finalist or better at four of the last six Australian Opens, led Christophe Rochus 6-2, 4-1 when the Belgian retired because of breathing difficulties.

Playing indoors, second-seeded Rafael Nadal overcame American Robert Kendrick 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-2. Kendrick gave Nadal trouble for a set with his strong serve and deft volleys. But Nadal’s passing shots started finding their marks and had the American lunging and diving all over the court. Fifth-seeded James Blake ousted Spain’s Carlos Moya 7-6 (8), 6-2, 6-4.

Women’s No. 4 Kim Clijsters downed Vasilisa Bardina 6-0, 6-0 in 44 minutes; and No. 6 Martina Hingis, a three-time winner here, beat Nathalie Dechy of France 6-0, 6-2.

Other important results:

Men: Tomas Berdych (13) def Lee Hyung-taik 6-1, 6-2, 6-2; Nikolay Davydenko(3) def Sergio Roitman 6-2, 7-5, 6-2; Andy Murray (15) def Alberto Martin 6-0, 6-0, 6-1; Gilles Muller def Gaston Gaudio 6-0, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Women: Ana Ivanovic (13) def Vania King 6-2, 6-0; Anna Chakvetadze (12) def Sybille Bammer 6-4, 7-5; Alicia Molik def Chan Yung-jan 6-2, 7-6 (4); Samantha Stosur (24) def Klara Zakopalova 6-3, 6-1; Aiko Nakamura def Eleni Daniilidou (32) 6-4, 6-0.