A hot day in Melbourne today (the Zverev-Edmund match was cancelled due to heat) and lots of action on court. Enjoy a few pictures from day 2 at the Kooyong Classic, and in case you missed it, check out day 1 pictures.

Pablo Carreno Busta defeated former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis 6-4 6-4:

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A few players signed new clothing deals during the off season, the most notable is Tomas Berdych who switched from H&M to adidas. Does that mean no more wacky outfits for Tomas? I’m eager to know if the Swedish brand will sign another player or stop the experiment there.

Lacoste has lost 3 top players: John Isner signed with Fila, David Goffin joined asics, and although nothing has been announced yet, it seems Timea Bacsinszky moved to asics too.

Another new asics recruit is Julia Goerges, who left Fila.

And Elina Svitolina – a previous ellesse ambassador – announced her signing with Nike on Instagram:

Hello @nike

Une photo publiée par Elina Svitolina?? (@elisvitolina) le 1 Janv. 2016 à 18h19 PST

Dan Evans had zero wins from his last 10 matches, but he was the hero of Britain’s tie against Slovakia: he beat Lukas Lacko ranked 211 places above him in straight sets, and Martin Klizan, ranked 156 places higher, in the deciding rubber.
Britain faced Belgium in the second round. Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins kept the British hopes of a comeback alive after Olivier Rochus and Steve Darcis wins. But David Goffin, making his Davis Cup singles debut defeated Josh Goodall in straight sets to propel Belgium to the World Group play-offs.

GROUP I EUROPE/AFRICA 1ST ROUND: GREAT BRITAIN – SLOVAKIA 3-2, Glasgow, hard

Dan Evans defeats Lukas Lacko 6-3 7-5 7-5
Martin Klizan defeats James Ward 6-2 4-6 6-4 7-6
Colin Fleming/Ross Hutchins defeat Michal Mertinak/Filip Polasek 6-3 7-6 0-6 6-3
Lukas Lacko defeats James Ward 7-6 6-1 6-3
Dan Evans defeats Martin Klizan 6-1 6-1 4-6 3-6 6-3

GROUP I EUROPE/AFRICA 2ND ROUND: GREAT BRITAIN – BELGIUM 1-3, Glasgow, hard

Steve Darcis defeats Josh Goodall 6-7 6-3 6-4 6-4
Olivier Rochus defeats Dan Evans 3-6 6-5 7-6 6-4
Colin Fleming/Ross Hutchins defeat Ruben Bemelmans/David Goffin 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4
David Goffin defeats Josh Goodall 6-4 6-4 6-4

I spent a few days in Paris last week for the BNP Paribas Masters, the ninth and final Masters 1000 event of the season. Novak Djokovic captured the title, dispatching Andy Murray 6-2 6-4 in the final. Enjoy my pictures and recaps of day 1 to day 4.

I didn’t manage to get Davis Cup final tickets, so I was eager to watch this third round match between Andy Murray and David Goffin. But there has been problems all week to enter the stadium – players scheduled first on centre court must be thrilled to play in front of hundred people – and when I finally managed to reeach the court first set was already over!
No idea what happened to Goffin, perhaps he was still asleep, but Murray destroyed him 6-1 6-0 in under an hour. There’s really not much to say about the match because it seemed there was only one player on the court. The highlight of the game occured when a ball girl hit Murray with a ball. The Scot later said jokingly that perhaps she doesn’t like him, and this little convo ensued on twitter:

Murray will next face Richard Gasquet for a place in the semifinals.

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