A tired and nauseous Andy Murray was beaten by Russia's Marat Safin at the Kooyong Classic yesterday, while Marcos Baghdatis started with a win at the Australian Open warm-up.
Defending champion Andy Roddick thrashed Ivan Ljubicic while David Nalbandian, the form player of the end of last season, joined Roger Federer on the sidelines after suffering a back spasm in training.
Britain's Murray, who began his season by winning the Qatar Open on Saturday, said he was close to vomiting during the 6-1, 6-4 loss to Marat Safin in the relegation-promotion eight-man event.
"I had a run at the track this morning and our match was moved up," said the world No. 9. "I felt like a couple of chicken sandwiches were ready to come up. I'm glad there were not that many long rallies."
Baghdatis, a late call-up after the top-ranked Federer dropped out with a stomach complaint, shrugged off his jet-lag to register a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 victory over Nikolay Davydenko.
"I was a bit tired from the travel, I need to play better for the Open," said the 2006 Australian Open finalist. "I felt a bit heavy on court, I was not fluid. I had a bit of a pain in the knee but it was because of the jet-lag."
Roddick, winner of the last two editions, easily handled Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 6-0.
"This is an important event, I'm getting matches," said the American, who trained for the hot weather in Hawaii. "And traditionally, players who have done well here have also done well at the Aussie Open."
"There's nothing wrong with playing matches against top-20 guys," Roddick said.
Murray, now surrounded by a revolving team of coaches after parting company with the high-priced Brad Gilbert, was also focused on the Open.
"I didn't feel too great on the court, but after a couple of days the jet-lag will be better. I want to arrive at the Australian Open in 100 percent condition," he said.
Nalbandian now faces a battle to be fit for the season's first grand slam, which starts on Monday.
"The doctor told me it was a distension of the muscle," said Nalbandian, who was to have faced Fernando Gonzalez in his Kooyong start. He was replaced by Australian Open junior champion Brydan Klein.
"I need to rest, take treatment and we'll see how it goes," said Nalbandian, who ended last season with back-to-back Masters titles in Madrid and Paris.
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