Murray wins first match Down Under

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MELBOURNE, Australia -- Andy Murray's first win on Rod Laver was a little low key. The 21-year-old Scot, carrying the hopes of a British public anxious to have its first male Grand Slam champion since 1936, was leading Andrei Pavel 6-2, 3-1, 15-0 when the Romanian retired with a back injury. The fourth-seeded Murray, who lost last year's U.S. Open final to Roger Federer, didn't mind getting off the court as the midday temperatures topped 37 degrees C on Tuesday, day two of the Australian Open. "It's the first time I've ever won a match on here," he told a TV interviewer. "You don't want to win a match like that. Andrei's been having trouble with his back for a year." Murray was installed as the favourite or joint favourite for the season-opening major by British bookmakers after beating Federer three times since losing the U.S. Open final -- his best run at a major to date. "I'm aiming to go one better here and I need all the support I can get," he said, noting the number of Scottish flags unfurled around the stadium. "It's nice. Hopefully they'll keep coming throughout the tournament." Murray defended his Qatar Open title in the Gulf before coming to Melbourne but said it was still difficult acclimatizing to the Australian summer. "On court temperature yesterday, apparently it got to 64 degrees -- pretty painful!" he said. The relentless sun had players sheltering in whatever shade they could find between points. The WTA invoked part of its extreme heat rule Tuesday, allowing women to wear ice vests and take a 10-minute break between sets. Murray, who worked hard on an off-season conditioning program that has added seven pounds (three kilograms) of muscle to his lean frame, was sharp from the start, exerting pressure with virtually every shot. Pavel managed to keep pace for the first four games before his feet betrayed him at the same time that his back was letting him down. He was twice called for foot-faults as Murray broke him for a 3-2 lead while running off the last five games of the first set. Pavel had a quick massage on his lower back during the changeover, held serve, then could only watch as Murray ran off 13 of the next 14 points. Federer commenced his quest for a 14th major to equal Pete Sampras' career record with a 6-1, 7-6 (4), 7-5 first-round win over 35th-ranked Andreas Seppi of Italy that finished after midnight. Top-ranked Rafael Nadal starts his second consecutive major as the top seed in a night match against Christophe Rochus of Belgium on Tuesday. Novak Djokovic, who beat Federer in the semis here last year, beat Andrea Stoppini 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 in his opening match. His fellow Serbs Ana Ivanovic and top-ranked Jelena Jankovic got through in straight sets on the women's side. Second-seeded Serena Williams, the reigning U.S. Open champion and three-time Australian champion, faces Yuan Meng of China on Tuesday. Sixth-seeded Venus Williams, who won her fifth Wimbledon title and finished off 2008 by winning the season-ending tour championship, goes against Angelique Kerber of Germany.