Australian Open heats up

Andy Murray's first win at Rod Laver Arena lasted only 45 minutes. Lucky him.

With the temperature touching 104 degrees in Melbourne, Australia, on Tuesday, Serena Williams wanted her first-round match at the Australian Open to be over just as quickly.

The second-seeded Williams, who has an alternate year pattern of titles here since 2003, had a 6-3, 6-2 win over China's Yuan Meng in 75 minutes in the following match on center court.

"Ooh! It's a little hot out here," Williams said.

Murray only needed to play 12 games to advance - Andrei Pavel retired with a back problem when he was down 6-2, 3-1 and 15-0.

When they walked off, the temperature was hovering at 99.

In addition to the heat, the early afternoon sun was nearly blinding at one end of the court.

In other matches, Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva beat Germany's Kristina Barrois 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-1, and No. 13 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus also advanced.

On the men's side, No. 31 Jurgen Melzer of Austria overpowered 19-year-old Japanese player Kei Nishikori 7-5, 6-2, 6-1, and Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin beat American Vince Spadea in straight sets.

- Associated Press