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Murray's Australian Open plans hit by the weather

Andy Murray had been scheduled to meet Marin Cilic © Getty Images

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The preparations of Britain's top tennis players have been disturbed ahead of the Australian Open, with Andy Murray forced to abandon a warm-up match while the trio of Anne Keothavong, Heather Watson and Katie O'Brien scratch around for practice time ahead of their Friday qualifiers.

Murray had hoped to play Marin Cilic in an exhibition match at the Kooyong Classic, in what would have been a repeat of last year's Australian Open semi-final. However, adverse weather forced the cancellations of scheduled matches, which then had to be rescheduled for when the courts became playable.

"Precedence has to go to the matches of the players who signed up. Andy didn't," explained tournament director Colin Stubs. "I've never seen weather come from the northeast like this in 23 years at this tournament."

Keothavong, Watson and O'Brien are yet to secure their places in the Australian Open, which starts on Monday, and Watson admitted the wait to play her qualifier has been frustrating.

"It's tough all this waiting around as I'm so ready to get on court," she told the LTA website. "We managed a quick hit first thing this morning before the rain came down but we've had to spend the rest of the day cooped up inside which is really frustrating for everybody. It's so strange as nobody is used to doing this in Australia. I feel really fit and mentally prepared, I'm in the best shape ever. I'm just going to give it my all and I can't wait to get started."

There has been play in Auckland, where top seed David Ferrer is through to the semi-finals of the Heineken Open after beating Philipp Kolschreiber in three sets. The world No. 7 was on court for nearly three hours in a 6-3 6-7(4) 6-3 victory, and he will now meet Santiago Giraldo in the last four.

In the other semi-final, David Nalbandian will face wildcard Nicolas Almagro after Nalbandian had too much for John Isner. As is so often the case in matches involving Isner, break points were at a premium, but Nalbandian converted his only chance for a 6-4 7-6(3) victory.

Meanwhile, at the Sydney International, Ernests Gulbis remains the highest seed left in the competition after he beat Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-4 6-4 to advance to the semi-finals. Gulbis is joined in the last four by Gilles Simon, Viktor Troicki and Florian Mayer.

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