Federer eases through

World number one Roger Federer and home hope Lleyton Hewitt led the march of the seeds on day two of the Australian Open in Melbourne as British aspirations were ended by Andy Murray’s defeat.

Top-seeded Federer signalled his intentions with a 6-2 6-3 6-2 demolition of Denis Istomin, while British hope Murray fell 6-1 6-3 6-3 to Argentinian Juan Ignacio Chela.

Third seed Hewitt advanced to the second round after a hard-fought 6-4 2-6 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 marathon victory over Robin Vik of the Czech Republic.

Federer advanced to the second round by dismantling his Uzbekistan opponent in less than 90 minutes.

The three-time Wimbledon champion insisted: “It was not easy today because, you know, he was serving big, taking a lot of chances on my return.

“We didn’t see too many rallies, which didn’t really allow me to get the rhythm going.”