• Australian Open

Murray dodges big guns early

ESPN staff
January 13, 2011
Andy Murray will take on Karol Beck first up © PA Photos
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Andy Murray has received a favourable draw for the Australian Open as he seeks to go one better than his losing final appearance in last year's tournament.

The Scot will meet 104-ranked Slovak Karol Beck for the first time in round one before possibly progressing to a showdown with the likes of Marcos Baghdatis or Jurgen Melzer in the round of 16.

But Murray will be eagerly looking ahead to the later stages, where Robin Soderling could be waiting in the quarter-finals and world No.1 Rafael Nadal is the likely semi-final opponent. Since he slipped out of the top four Murray lost the automatic benefit of being placed away from the big guns until the latest stages, but he has gained that result anyway.

Nadal will start his tournament against Marcus Daniel while Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, who find themselves on the same side of the draw, will meet Lukas Lacko and Marcel Granollers in their respective openers.

The pick of the men's draw sees local favourite Lleyton Hewitt and David Nalbandian clash in the first round.

In the women's draw, Kim Clijsters will face former world No. 1 Dinara Safina in the first round, while top seed Caroline Wozniacki must navigate her way past the potential banana skin of Gisela Dulko.

British No. 1 Elena Baltacha will meet a qualifier in the first round, but could come up against 2010 finalist Justine Henin in the second round.

Venus Williams, who has promised to unleash a racy new outfit on Melbourne Park, will tackle Sara Errani first up.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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