Andy Murray advanced to the third round at Melbourne Park on Wednesday - then claimed the weather was tougher than his opponent.

After beating Frenchman Marc Gicquel in straight sets, 6-1 6-4 6-3, the British number one said: "The wind was the trickiest part because it's kind of like a bowl, the (wind) kind of gets trapped in there and swirls around.

"Sometimes you think the ball is going one direction, and the wind is going one direction and then in the middle of the point it can change pretty quickly. That was tough. But I was happy with the way I played."

Murray saw off Gicquel, ranked 57th in the world, in one hour 50 minutes and later explained that the wind on Margaret Court Arena at times worked to his advantage.

"When you're drop-shotting into the wind, it's a good play," the Scot explained. "If you're drop-shotting when you have the wind, you know, you can't really get any backspin on the ball, so the ball tends to shoot through.

"It's a lot easier for the opponent to get through. (I) drop-shotted well, especially at the start of the match."

After keeping a low profile in the build up to the first Grand Slaim event of 2010, Murray is showing signs that he could go far here.

9/2 to win the Men's singles following his win, Murray clearly needs to improve his serve. His first serve was not good in the early stages of the match - something that the 22-year-old acknowledged.

"This is the highest level of the sport. That's gonna happen," he said. "But I played two matches and got broken twice, you know, once in each match. (I) served better today than I did the first day. I'm sure I'll serve better in the next round than I did today.”

Next up for Murray is Frenchman Florent Serra, ranked 64 in the world, who came from match point down to beat Finnish veteran Nieminen 3-6 6-4 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 7-5.

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