Roger Federer, Victoria Azarenka move on at Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia— Roger Federer kept his cool on a scorching second day at the Australian Open, starting his record 57th consecutive Grand Slam tournament with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 victory in his first match with Stefan Edberg as a coach.

Federer was the second match on Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday, and the temperature topped 106 degrees during his win over Australian wild-card entry James Duckworth.

Two-time defending women’s champion Victoria Azarenka played the previous match on the center court at Melbourne Park, and said it felt “pretty hot, like you’re dancing in a frying pan or something like that.”

After her 7-6 (2), 6-2 win over No. 91-ranked Johanna Larsson of Sweden, Azarenka went back out to practice and said she planned an ice bath later as a recovery.

Asked how he handled the heat, the 32-year-old Federer said: “I’m here. I’m speaking. Actually, it’s not crazy. I’m feeling OK right now.”

He now owns the record for playing the most consecutive Grand Slam events, another milestone in a career that has already netted 17 major titles for the Swiss star.

Federer kept the points as short as possible, and gave No. 133-ranked Duckworth only one look at a break point in the 1-hour, 46-minute match.

Conscious of the time and the temperature, former No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki and No. 11 Simona Halep raced to straight-sets wins.

Wozniacki said the court was so hot in her 6-0, 6-2 win over Lourdes Dominguez Lino, which started at 11 a.m., that it seemed to melt her plastic water bottle.

Halep had a 6-0, 6-1 win over Polish qualifier Katarzyna Piter, while American Christina McHale advanced, 7-5, 6-4, over Taiwan’s Chang Yung-jan and No. 16 Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain beat Vania King of the United States, 6-3, 6-2.

As well as the heat, there were injuries and retirements. No. 13 John Isner, the only seeded American man in the draw, retired after losing the first two sets, 6-2, 7-6 (6), against Martin Klizan. He called for the trainer after the tiebreaker, tapped his racket on the ground three times while deliberating whether to go back out, and played on for only a few minutes in the third set.

Isner attributed it to the same right ankle problem that bothered him on the way to the title at Auckland, New Zealand last week.

Among the other men advancing were No. 10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, No. 11 Milos Raonic, No. 22 Grigor Dimitrov and No. 16 Kei Nishikori.