Australian Open: On comeback trail, Andy Murray and Maria Sharapova find their feet in first round

The fourth seed was never in trouble against the 112th-ranked Soeda, breaking the Japanese player’s service seven times and not having a break point against his own serve. Murray, who lost to Novak Djokovic in last year’s Australian final, said it was the best he had felt on court for 18 months, following his surgery in September.

Under the knife

“It’s not every single shot that my back hurt on before, but certain shots I’m a lot freer in the movement just now. I hope that continues,” the Scot said. “That was the whole point of having the surgery. So if I was still in pain and stiff and sore then I’d be a bit worried about the next few years. But I’m hoping it was the right decision. I felt freer today than I did for the last 18 months.”

Murray said he was mindful that some players do not return in the same form after going under the knife. “Going through surgery is different than going through any other sort of injury or break that you have,” he said. “A lot of players don’t come back from surgery and are the same player that they are before.

“That’s something that’s always in the back of your mind, something that will worry you a little bit and something you’ll think about.

“You’re just praying that everything is good with the back and you can wake up the next day — even now — and hope that all is good tomorrow.”

The Scot missed the rest of last season after his surgery and his preparations for Melbourne have not been good. The world number four crashed out in the second round of the Qatar Open to German Florian Mayer, the world number 38, and then went down to veteran Australian Lleyton Hewitt in an exhibition match last Friday.

Meanwhile, third seed Maria Sharapova also clawed her way into the Australian Open second round Tuesday with a straight-sets win over Bethanie Mattek-Sands as she seeks he first Grand Slam title since the 2012 French Open.

The glamorous Russian, on the comeback trail from a shoulder injury that forced her off the tour in August, battled past the tough American 6-3, 6-4 but her game was marred by too many errors and a serve that failed to fire.

“After (missing) my last Grand Slam in New York I have been so looking forward to this one and I was really happy to start,” she said. “She was a tough opponent and I’m just happy to get through the first one. I have had trouble against her in the past and I knew it would be no different tonight.”

Bit of a struggle

The four-time Grand Slam winner only made her return at the Brisbane International this month where she lost to bitter rival and eventual champion Serena Williams in the semi-finals.

Sharapova, who was using an ice vest even at 11:00 pm after a scorching hot day, won’t be relishing a possible final meeting with Williams, who has a 15-2 record in their career meetings.  AFP