Wiesberger leads by one as McIlroy lurks
Andy Murray drew massive applause not just for his tennis, but for an eloquent tribute to female coaches.
As Murray basked in the center-court spotlight after reaching his fourth Australian Open final, he was asked by an on-court presenter what his new coach Amelie Mauresmo has brought to his game.
Murray’s decision to hire the former No. 1-ranked Mauresmo in June, after parting ways with Ivan Lendl, sparked criticism from some current and retired players and the British media. Her position was then under scrutiny in Britain after Murray was eliminated from Wimbledon and the US Open in the quarterfinals last year. DUBAI: Austrian Bernd Wiesberger emerged the sole leader at Omega Dubai Desert Classic after Thursday’s first round featuring a deluge of birdies at the Emirates Golf Club Thursday.
The 29-year-old Wiesberger appeared to be struggling on the greens as he did not make a single birdie in his first five holes, but warmed up his putter nicely, needing just 25 putts to complete a round of eight-under par 64.
It kept him one ahead of American Peter Uihlein, Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts and the English duo of Lee Westwood and Andy Sullivan.
And gave him a two-shot advantage over the world number one Rory McIlroy and the defending champion Stephen Gallacher, who both shot matching 66s.
The scoring conditions were ideal, with not an iota of wind on the course for much of the day with the greens extremely receptive and rolling well.
The scoring average for the field was more than a shot less than par — 70.97 — and as many as 80 players in the 132-man field submitted sub-par scores.
Westwood, who closed his 2014 season with a win in the Thai Golf Championship, started his year well, and two huge birdie putts in his last five holes — one was from 35 feet on the fifth hole and the other from 18 feet on the ninth — saw him close on a 65.
“I’m very thankful for Amelie for doing it. It was, I would say, a brave choice from her to do it, and hopefully I can repay her now in a few days.”
Maria Sharapova has played at the Australian Open for 12 years, but she apparently still has some trouble with a strong Aussie accent.
After beating Ekaterina Makarova on Thursday to set up a final against Serena Williams, she was asked by an Australian reporter how she deals with nerves the night before a big match.
Sit in a room with music? Go for a walk? Have a bath?
Sounding slightly incredulous, Sharapova responded: “Sit at a bar?“ MELBOURNE: After three heartbreaking trips to the final, Andy Murray secured another shot at Australian Open glory by overhauling Tomas Berdych on Thursday after women’s top seed Serena Williams set up a blockbuster titledecider with Maria Sharapova.
Edged in a marathon first set, Murray fired up after a frosty exchange with the hard-hitting Czech and blazed to a 6-7(6), 6-0, 6-3, 7-5 victory under the lights of Rod Laver Arena.
The sixth-seeded Scot will contest his first grand slam final since his emotional triumph at Wimbledon in 2013. His next opponent will be decided in Friday’s semifinal between world number one Novak Djokovic and champion Stan Wawrinka.
Murray’s clinical disposal of Rafa Nadal’s conqueror sent an ominous signal to his eventual challenger and thrilled the center court crowd after the women’s semifinals were earlier wrapped up in straight sets.
With his former assistant coach
McIlroy also finished on the tough par-4 ninth, but he made his only bogey of the day there after struggling to find fairways off the tee.
Colsaerts met with a similar fate as McIlroy, and having started from the 10th tee and making eight birdies, he too closed with a bogey on the ninth for a 65.
Wiesberger, who finished inside the top-six in the previous two events, could have closed his round with six straight birdies, but missed a chance on the par-5 18th for his 64.
“Just a bit disappointed to miss that last birdie. It would be my first 63 out there but still a great day,” said Wiesberger, who could move into the top-50 of the world ranking with a good result this week.
“It was a special back nine today. Played really well from the ninth onwards. I hit a lot of birdies. I didn’t quite jump off that train really and it was nice to get to 8?under par.
“I had a bit of problem with the pace of the greens early on and I left a lot of good chances short, which I didn’t like really. It was all right after I started getting the pace right.”
Westwood said he did not feel rusty at all despite this being his first start of the year.