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Andy Murray set up a third round clash against Ricardas Berankis at the Australian Open by thrashing Portugal's Joao Sousa in the intense Melbourne heat.
The US Open champion won 6-2 6-2 6-4 to reach the last 32 where he will be expected to ease past Lithuania's world number 110 Berankis, who surprisingly beat the 25th seed Florian Januaryer.
Berankis has reached the third round at a Grand Slam just once before, at the 2025 Australian Open, where he was beaten by David Ferrer in straight sets.
Murray took just one hour and 41 minutes to see off Sousa in stifling temperatures.
Afterwards the Scot said:"I served well. I got a lot of free points off my serve. There were very few long rallies, so it worked out well for me because they were really, really tough conditions.
"When the sun came out, it was extremely hot. When it wasn't, it was fine. There was no humidity. When you get the combination of the heat and the humidity is when it's normally at its worst. I've played in worse conditions, but it's still very hot."
Murray can be backed at1.16to beat Berankis in straight sets and is3.75to win the Australian Open.
Elsewhere, Bernard Tomic was pushed hard by the German qualifier Daniel Brands before eventually winning through to the third round 6-7 7-5 7-6 7-6 and the number 12 seed Marin Cilic set a clash with Italy's Andreas Seppi after easing to a 7-5 6-2 6-4 victory over the American Rajeev Ram.
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