the fracture compromises vascular support to the foot

Melbourne, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) - Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Roger Federer were easy first-round winners Tuesday at the Australian Open. The reigning U.S. and French Open champion and world No. 1 Nadal took the first set from Bernard Tomic, 6-4, before the Aussie decided to retire to a chorus of boos, citing a groin injury, on a hot Day 2 at Melbourne Park. The 21-year-old Tomic was a runner-up in Sydney last week. Nadal captured his lone Aussie Open title in 2009 and was the runner-up here in 2012. He missed last years edition due to injuries. Up next for the 13-time major champion will be 17-year-old Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis. Meanwhile, the fourth-seeded and three-time Aussie Open runner-up Murray made short work of Japans Go Soeda, routing him 6-1, 6-1, 6-3, while a sixth- seeded Federer dominated Aussie James Duckworth 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in 1 hour, 46 minutes at Rod Laver Arena. Murray, who lost to Novak Djokovic in last years Melbourne finale, will face Frenchman Vincent Millot on Thursday. The Swiss legend Federer, who owns a mens-record 17 major titles and is appearing in a record 57th straight Grand Slam event, is looking to win for a fifth time in Melbourne and for the first time since 2010. He was also a runner-up here to Nadal back in 2009. Asked how he handled the heat on Day 2, the 32-year-old Federer said: "Im here. Im speaking. Actually, its not crazy. Im feeling OK right now. "It was very dry, just hot, stinging sort of sun. Depending on where you come from it has a bigger effect on you, this type of heat. So its very personal, and it can become just a very mental thing -- you just cant accept that its hot." The former world No. 1 Federer, who has reached the semifinals or better in Melbourne every year since 2004, will meet Slovenian Blaz Kavcic in his next outing. Last weeks Sydney champion, fifth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro, was a 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 winner over American Rhyne Williams. Up next for the former U.S. Open champ will be Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut. Former Aussie Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, seeded 10th this year, cruised past Italian Filippo Volandri 7-5, 6-3, 6-3, while 11th-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic downed Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver 7-6 (7-2), 6-1, 4-6, 6-2. Winning the Auckland title last week may have taken too much out of 13th- seeded John Isner. The highest-seeded American lost the first two sets to Slovak Martin Klizan, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6), before retiring because of a foot injury on Tuesday. Isner did not appear in last years Aussie Open due to a bone bruise in his right knee. Fans sat through temperatures that reached well over 100 degrees and watched local favorite Lleyton Hewitt fall to 24th-seeded Andreas Seppi, who saved a match point before winning 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 5-7, 5-7, 7-5 in a grueling 4-hour, 18-minute affair. The former No. 1 Hewitt was making his 18th straight appearance in the event, where he finished as a runner-up back in 2005. Sixteenth seed Kei Nishikori of Japan outlasted Aussie Marinko Matosevic 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 in 3 hours, 41 minutes. In other action involving seeds, No. 18 Gilles Simon outlasted German Daniel Brands 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 16-14; No. 22 Grigor Dimitrov grounded American Bradley Klahn 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3; No. 25 Gael Monfils dismissed American Ryan Harrison 6-4, 6-4, 6-4; No. 26 Feliciano Lopez topped Indian Somdev Devvarman 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2); No. 27 Benoit Paire doused Canadian Frank Dancevic 7-6 (14-12), 6-3, 6-4; and No. 31 Fernando Verdasco overcame Chinese Ze Zhang 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. Several other men reached the second round including Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci, Croat Marin Cilic, Aussie Nick Kyrgios, Romanian Victor Hanescu, last weeks Auckland runner-up Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei, and Americans Donald Young and Jack Sock. Young defeated Dutchman Robin Haase 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, 1-0, retired, while Sock subdued German Tobias Kamke 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 6-2, 6-4. The second round will get underway Wednesday, as the second-seeded former world No. 1 Djokovic will take on Argentine Leonardo Mayer. The formidable Djokovic is seeking a fourth straight and fifth Aussie Open title in seven years. In other Wednesday action involving top-10 seeds, No. 3 David Ferrer will meet Frances Adrian Mannarino, No. 7 Tomas Berdych will battle Frenchman Kenny De Schepper, No. 8 Stanislas Wawrinka will be opposed by Colombian Alejandro Falla, and No. 9 Richard Gasquet will take on one-time world No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko. Bob Lanier Jersey .J. 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But that changed when he committed a five-minute major penalty and helped pave the way for a comeback by the Philadelphia Flyers. Vincent Lecavalier scored at 2:45 of overtime and the Flyers rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 5-4 victory on Sunday. TORONTO -- While most of those in the stands undoubtedly recoiled when they saw Andersons Silvas gruesome leg break Saturday night at UFC 168 in Las Vegas, Steven Sanders had a different thought cageside. "The only question I had in my mind was how low down on the leg was the fracture," the UFCs orthopedic surgeon recalled in a media conference call Monday. "Because the level of the fracture influences my thinking as to what type of orthopedic device Im going to need to fix it. "But the minute it occurred, Im sitting there going Thats fixable." Amazingly, less than 48 hours after surgery to insert a titanium rod and three screws in his left tibia, the 38-year-old Brazilian was up on crutches, accorded to the surgeon. "Its amazing because I dont know if I would be able to do it that quickly," said Sanders. And the surgeon said Silvas question prior to the operation was when could he train again. Still the former middleweight champion is spending most of his time in his hospital bed, at this stage, with his leg in a posterior splint. "Hes behaving as anyone would who had just broke both their bones violently and then had a 11.5-millimetre-diameter rod stuck down the intramedullary canal of your tibia. It hurts quite a bit," Sanders said. The fighter is expected to stay in hospital for a few more days and faces a long recovery before he could compete in the cage again. But Sanders says Silva will eventually be able to resume mixed martial arts. The surgeon expects the fighters fractures to heal in three to six months, with a time frame of six to nine months before trying to resume training. "The expectation is positive," Sanders said. Silva (33-6) will be able to do some rehab work, to put some weight on the leg "in the near future as we get though this acute pain phase." Saturdays fight was stopped at 1:16 of the second round, with current middleweight champion Chris Weidman declared the winner as doctors attended to a writhing Silva. Silva broke both the tibia and fibula in his lower left leg kicking Weidman in the main event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Weidman checked the kick, meaning Silva went bone-one-bone. His leg snapped about a third of the way up the tibia from the ankle, causing his essentially untethered ankle and foot to swing around Weidmans leg in an stomach-churning moment. Silva, who up until his upset loss to Weidman in July at UFC 162 was considered the top pound-for-pound fighter on the planet, collapsed in agony. Sanders called it "horrific pain." Sanders said Dr. Anthony Ruggeroli immediately realigned the limb and applied traction, helping prevent the injuryy from getting worse.dddddddddddd Silva was stretchered outside the cage under the direction of Dr. Jeff Davidson and taken to a waiting ambulance, which transported him to University Medical Centre Hospital, a Level 1 trauma centre. The operation lasted about an hour, with the rod inserted into his leg at the front of the knee, with a screw at the top and two at the bottom to stabilize the bone. While the fibula was also broken, Sanders elected not to operate on that bone because it would have required an incision at the site of the break, opening Silva up to the risk of infection -- among other reasons. Sanders says the fibula could heal on its own, adding he saw no evidence from X-rays there was an predisposition to a break. The surgeon called Silvas fracture "fairly severe," given the fact that the skin was essentially holding the leg together. That means the tissues that normally surround the bone, and help with the healing, have undergone trauma. The soft tissue recovery is "more of a variable" than the bone repair, said Sanders. The injury, while horrific to watch, could have been worse, with Sanders listing off the elements of a worse case scenario -- a break near the joint, the skin breaking, tearing a blood vessel challenging blood supply to the foot. "Unfortunately in my line of work, things can always sometimes be worse," he said. That includes "limb-threatening" if the fracture compromises vascular support to the foot. Silvas dramatic injury -- which Sanders pithily described as "an abnormal bend in the leg at a place where its not supposed to bend" -- was "extremely close" to being much worse On the plus side, the straight nature of the break will help in rehab, since a spiral fracture can "unwind." And the surgeon said the rehab wont be as intense as when fighters injure knee ligaments. The titanium rod can be removed at a later date or can stay in Silvas leg, Sanders added. "For whatever reason, humans like titanium." Sanders has worked with the UFC for more than a decade and has practised in Las Vegas since 1991, working with boxers prior to MMA fighters. Sivas injury recalled that of Corey Hill, who broke his leg while throwing a kick that was checked by Dale Hartt on a UFC card in December 2008. Hill returned to action in January 2010 and has gone 4-3 since, although not in the UFC. UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon (Bones) Jones said Silvas injury will not change his approach to fighting. "No Andersons last fight will not change my psychology towards kicking at all, that was just an extremely unfortunate situation," Jones tweeted. ' ' '