Lendl throws over towel

Andy Murray’s new coach Ivan Lendl was courtside to watch the Scot move effortlessly into the quarterfinals of the Open. He just wasn’t keen for anyone to know about it.

The eight-time Grand Slam winner threw a white towel over a nearby camera, which was installed to capture his reactions during the match on Rod Laver Arena.

“I didn’t know it was him that had done it until after the match,” Murray said. “But, yeah, that was just the sort of thing he does. He’s been doing that for years.”

Lendl has also been using towels to protect himself from the Melbourne sun. Monday’s temperature hit a high of 34C (93F). It wasn’t a problem for Murray, who went through to the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park for the fourth straight year when Mikhail Kukushkin retired with a left hip injury while trailing 6-1, 6-1, 1-0.

The fourth-seeded Murray didn’t enjoy the experience much. “It’s just boring,” he said. “There was nothing happening on the court. Didn’t have to do anything. Just hitting the ball in the court and he wasn’t running. He was making mistakes. That was it.”

FIRST OF A KIND

Despite his loss to Andy Murray, Mikhail Kukushkin still managed a first for his country — he’s the first man from Kazakhstan to advance to the fourth round of a Grand Slam.

Trouble is, Kukushkin was not born in Kazakhstan. Struggling with his game four years ago, the Russian-born player decided to make a fresh start across the border in the former Soviet republic. He credits the Kazakh Tennis Federation with helping him turn his game around.

“I was not in good shape in that moment, but I knew that I could play better, much better,” he said. “But I didn’t have any opportunity for that. Unfortunately in Russia, nobody was interested in me. Nobody supported me.”

Kazakhstan, a central Asian country without much of a tennis tradition, was more than happy to help. The Kazakhs have been inviting Russian players to come and play the past few years — and the investment is starting to pay off. Yaroslava Shvedova, a top women’s doubles player, switched nationalities in 2008 and won the Wimbledon and U.S. Open doubles titles with Vania King two years later.

“For all players, especially for me, it means a lot when you have such a strong federation behind you and you know any moment you can call them and ask for, I don’t know, ‘Next week I want to practice in Spain,’ whatever, and they will just find you a place, pay for everything,” Kukushkin said. “They just do everything for you.”