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World No. 1 Andy Murray advanced to the third round Wednesday night despite hurting his right ankle during a 6-3, 6-0, 6-2 victory over qualifier Andrey Rublev of Russia at the Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia. The 29-year-old Briton needed 63 minutes to open up a two-sets lead, but at 1-1 in the third set he rolled his ankle against the 56th-ranked Rublev, who was competing at his second Grand Slam event.
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"It"s just a little sore. It"s not too serious," Murray said during an on-court interview. "I definitely rolled it a bit and I"m sure I"ll get some ice on it tonight. I was moving OK. I can put weight on it."
Murray, a five-time runner-up at Melbourne Park, will next meet American No. 31 seed Sam Querrey, who lost only three of his first service points to beat 17-year-old Australian wild card Alex De Minaur 7-6 (5), 6-0, 6-1 in one hour and 48 minutes.
"Sam Querrey in the next round will be a tough one," Murray said. "He"s got a big game, a big serve and takes chances with his forehand."
Murray leads Querrey 6-1 in their previous matches.
Stan Wawrinka, who needed five sets to get through his first-round match at the Australian Open, had an easier time in the second round.
The fourth-seeded Swiss player dumped 33rd-ranked American Steve Johnson 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 earlier Wednesday.
"I played at a great level and I"m really happy with my focus to get into the third round," Wawrinka said. "I was feeling the ball better today and I made him play a lot. I was happy with my serve in general."
Wawrinka, 31, won the most recent major tournament, the 2016 U.S. Open, for his third Grand Slam title. He previously captured the 2015 French Open and the 2014 Australian Open.
Johnson, 27, is still looking for his first Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance. His best result in a major tournament was reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon last summer.
In other second-round action, 17th-seeded Roger Federer of Switzerland beat 197th-ranked American Noah Rubin 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (3).
The match featured a meeting of players at the opposite ends of their careers. Federer, 35, is a 17-time major champion and 27-time finalist. He is seeking his fifth Australian Open title. Rubin, 20, was appearing in only his third Grand Slam event, and matched his best result, an appearance in the 2016 Australian Open second round. He was a first-round loser at the 2014 U.S. Open.
"I wasn't feeling as good as in the beginning," Federer said after the match. "I definitely got lucky to win that third set. A lot of difficult moments out there, but it's what I need to progress in this tournament."
Fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan rolled past France"s Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. Chardy finished with more winners in the match 23-21, but had a huge edge in unforced errors 53-30.
"It was definitely much better than my first match," Nishikori said. "There was many up and downs in second set and also in the third set. I was focused when I needed the game."
Tenth-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic eliminated American Ryan Harrison 6-3, 7-6 (6), 6-2, while France"s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 12th seed, knocked out Serbia"s Dusan Lajovic 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.
American John Isner, seeded 19th, took the first two sets against Germany"s Mischa Zverev but couldn"t close the deal, falling 6-7 (4), 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (7), 9-7. Jack Sock, an American seeded No. 23, got past 17-year-old Australian Alex De Minaur 7-6 (5), 6-0, 6-1.
No. 29 Viktor Troicki of Serbia went the distance to beat Italy"s Paolo Lorenzi 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-3.
Unseeded Andreas Seppi of Italy rallied from two sets down and saved a match point to beat No. 14 seed Nick Kyrgios 1-6, 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2, 10-8.
