MELBOURNE, Australia(AP) Andy Murray fired 14 aces on his way to the fourth round at the Australian Open and doesn't see why everyone is panicking about his serve.
The 22-year-old Scot was broken three times on the way to Friday's 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 third-round win over France's Florent Serra. He got only 55 percent of his first serves in.
The 2008 U.S. Open finalist is known as one of the better servers in the game and has been a bit off his mark since arriving in Melbourne, leading to a steady stream of questions on the subject.
I don't think my serve is an issue at all,'' the No. 5-ranked Murray said.Everyone is panicking about my serve. I'm happy with how it's gone. When the important moments have come, I've served well. That's the most important thing.''
Murray charged into the match with three aces and hit a total of 49 winners compared with the Frenchman's 26.
Both players took turns grimacing in pain - Murray toward the end of the first set when he appeared to twist his back while switching gears from forehand to backhand. Murray said he was fine'' afterwards, and had just stumbled a bit because the surface in Melbourne isreally sticky.''
The 64th-ranked Serra fell early in the third set while chasing a shot and cut his elbow, requiring a two-minute treatment and bandaging.
In four previous appearances in Melbourne, Murray has not passed the fourth round.
He will be tested in the next round when he faces fellow big-server John Isner, who arrived in Melbourne fresh from winning his first career title in Auckland last week.
Murray remains the only player in the top five without a major title and is bracing for a tough match, saying Isner has probably ``the best serve on the tour.''
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PRESSURE COOKER: Dinara Safina knows how to whip up a decent risotto but will be expanding her menu now that she owns a Julia Child cookbook.
The fledgling chef and No. 2 seed at the Australian Open spent her rest day before Friday's third-round match practicing in the morning and then watching movies at her hotel.
She was so inspired by the film ``Julie and Julia'' that she ventured out of the hotel to buy the cookbook.
That's what made me buy the book,'' Safina said after her win 6-1, 6-2 win over Britain's Elena Baltacha.I like cooking. I have a new apartment in Moscow. I'm like, 'OK, instead of a library of books, I'll have cookbooks.' I want to cook.''
Safina, whose loss to Serena Williams at the Australian Open last year was among the toughest of her three Grand Slam final defeats, said she knows how to make a ``not bad'' risotto with asparagus.
``And, of course, green salad with olive oil,'' she added.
So far, so good.
Until now nobody got sick, so this is the positive,'' she smiled.They might like, not like, but if they have problems with the stomach, it's not good. But until now, nobody has complained.''
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DO SPONSORS PREFER BLONDES?: Despite her No. 11 ranking and a run to the 2007 Wimbledon final, Marion Bartoli has no sponsor and wonders if it's because she's not blonde and thin.
``I had one when I was younger, when I became the junior U.S. Open champion,'' said Bartoli, who won the junior's title in 2001 and was picked up by Le Coq Sportif. The company cut the deal a few years later.
She is now 25 now and the highest-ranked French women's player, but has to buy her own on-court clothing.
It doesn't cost much, but I don't understand why some lower-ranked players than me get a contract,'' Bartoli said after losing her third-round match to China's Zheng Jie, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0.It's really ridiculous.''
Bartoli who is 5-foot-6 and 139 pounds (1.7 meters and 63 kg) told France's L'Equipe newspaper she wondered if the reason was because she is ``not blonde enough, not thin enough, not tall enough.''
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C'MON AUSSIE: Australian tennis great John Newcombe is predicting a ``knock-down, drag-out'' match for Lleyton Hewitt in the next round and hopes he can pull it off.
Hewitt faces Marcos Baghdatis in the third round Saturday, two years after the pair set a record in the 2008 Australian Open for the latest finishing match at a major.
That match started at 11:47 p.m. and Hewitt emerged the winner five sets and nearly five hours later at 4:34 a.m.
Baghdatis, a Cypriot who reached the 2006 Australian Open final, beat Hewitt in a the quarterfinals at Sydney last week on his way to winning the title.
``I just hope for Lleyton he doesn't pull back like he did in Sydney against Baghdatis when he had a set and a break,'' Newcombe told the Australian Associated Press.
Newcombe won seven Grand Slam singles titles in a long career that spanned 1960-1978. In five Wimbledon campaigns from 1967-71, he reached four finals and won three of them.
He also won the Australian Open in 1973, 1974 and 1975 and two U.S. Opens, reaching the No. 1 ranking in 1974.
Hewitt, a former No. 1 who won the 2001 U.S. Open and 2002 Wimbledon titles, is vying to become the first homegrown champion since 1976, when Newcombe lost the final to fellow Aussie Mark Edmondson. No. 22 Hewitt's best run at his home major was to the 2005 final, when he lost to Marat Safin.
Newcombe backed the gritty Australian to give everything on the weekend.
Baghdatis and he are going to have a knock-down, drag-out match. Toss a coin,'' Newcombe said.They both want it really badly.''