Murray makes another first-round exit in Australia

Jan 14, 2008, 12:39 GMT

Melbourne - Andy Murray's reputation as a fast-rising tennis threat took a hit on Monday as the Scot was bundled out in an opening-day disaster at the Australian Open, 7-5, 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (7-5) by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

'I don't think it's the end of the world,' said a shell-shocked Murray, at nine the highest seed to be eliminated.

'Worse things could have happened to me out there. It wasn't that I got completely outplayed at the match. I didn't feel physically I was the worse player.'

The first round defeat was the second for Murray, also beaten in his opening encounter in his debut in 2006.

'Sometimes happens in sport. You play a fairly decent match and you don't come through. And that's what happened.'

Tsonga, ranked 38th, added the Scot to a British victim's list on the day which also included qualifier Jamie Baker.

Murray left it too late after dropping the first two sets. A tiring Tsonga said he let the third set go to love to regroup for the fourth.

Murray staved off defeat as he broke Tsonga in the tenth game of the fourth set as the Frenchman served for victory.

But in the tiebreaker, Tsonga advanced into the second round when Murray sent a forehand return wide. Tsonga made his mark at Melbourne Park in 2007 by giving Andy Roddick a rough time in the first round.

'I'm pretty tired but I played well,' said Tsonga, who took treatment on a thigh. 'It was a big fight, I'm happy to win today.

'After the first two sets, I was tired.'

'I felt worse a couple of years ago when I lost in the first round here and got absolutely smoked and physically was in bad shape,' said Murray, who has time to kill before travelling to Buenos Aires for a huge Davis Cup challenge in February.

Other seeds picked up the slack, with number four Nikolay Davydenko ripping Michael Llodra of France 7-5, 7-5, 6-3 and number six Andy Roddick dispatching Czech Lukas Dlouhy 6-3, 6-4, 7-5

Spanish 11th seed Tommy Robredo recovered from the depths, overcoming German Mischa Zverev 4-6, 2-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, 7-5.

Rainer Schuettler won a battle of former finalists as he beat Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4.

Victory was welcome for the 31-year-old German, who has won just four Grand Slam matches since 2004, a year after losing to Andre Agassi in the Melbourne Park final. Clement was beaten by Agassi for the trophy in 2001.

Women's third seed Jelena Jankovic pulled out of a potential death spiral to salvage a 2-6, 6-2, 12-10 win over Austrian 17-year-old Tamira Paszek in three hours, nine minutes.

The marathon featured 20 breaks of serve, 66 unforced errors from the winner and a pair of injury timeouts. The third set lasted for nearly two hours and was marked by 10 straight breaks of serve.

'I really don't know how I won,' said Jankovic, who saved three match points. 'I was playing not so well today, I had trouble finding my rhythm.

'My opponent was making me work very hard.

'I've been struggling with injuries, but my back has been working very hard. I've been getting stiff and getting treatments on that part.

'I was kind of restricted going one way, rotating my body. But I received a treatment, I took some painkillers. So I managed to get through the match.'

By contrast, top seed Justine Henin, holder Serena Williams and 2007 finalist Maria Sharapova continued to motor, with Henin earning her 29th consecutive win since last summer.

The Belgian Henin crushed Japan's Aiko Nakamura 6-2, 6-2, a slimmed-down Williams put out Slovak-turned-Aussie Jarmila Gajdosova 6-3, 6-3, and fifth seed Sharapova beat Jelena Kostanic Tosic of Croatia 6-4, 6-3.

Henin, who lifted the Sydney title at the weekend, is continuing to break records after winning 10 titles in 2007, including a fourth at Roland Garros and winning the US Open without the loss of a set.

The Belgian last played in Australia in 2006, quitting the final against Amelie Mauresmo with stomach pains and missing last year as her marriage collapsed.

'I didn't really think about (the past) because it seems so far away from me, I've moved forward,' she said. 'I just want to be focused on this moment.

Sharapova earned a second-round clash with danger-woman Lindsay Davenport, an unseeded three-time grand Slam winner back in action after giving birth last summer.

The California advanced over Italy's Sara Errani 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.

'Lindsay's a big hitter, has a big serve,' said Sharapova. 'It's going to be very important to serve well and return well and hopefully get a good hit on the first ball.'

Other seeds advancing included number 11 Elena Dementieva, French number 13 tatiana Golovin and Swiss 15th seed Patty Schnyder.