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Australian Open: Wawrinka advances to 2nd round

Melbourne: No. 8-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka was the first man through to the second round at the Australian Open, advancing after just 15 games Monday when Andrey Golubev retired with an injured left leg.Wawrinka, who lost

australian open wawrinka advances to 2nd round australian open wawrinka advances to 2nd round
Melbourne: No. 8-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka was the first man through to the second round at the Australian Open, advancing after just 15 games Monday when Andrey Golubev retired with an injured left leg.



Wawrinka, who lost 12-10 in the fifth set to eventual champion Novak Djokovic here last year in the longest Grand Slam match of 2013, was leading 6-4, 6-1 when his Kazakhstan rival quit. Golubev took a medical time out and had his lower left leg taped when he was down 5-2 in the first.

No. 18-seeded Kirsten Flipkens, a Wimbledon semifinalist last year, was the first woman to advance when she beat Britain's Laura Robson 6-3, 6-0. In another fast-finishing first-rounder, Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic had a 6-0, 6-1 win over French wildcard Pauline Parmentier.