Australian Open 2015: Roger Federer survives injury scare and poor start to reach third round in Melbourne

The Swiss lost the opening set to Simone Bolelli

Roger Federer of Switzerland looks on in his second round match against Simone Bolelli (GETTY IMAGES)

Roger Federer breathed a sigh of relief after surviving an early deficit and an injury scare to reach the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday.

Federer lost the opening set of his second-round match to Italy's Simone Bolelli before calling the trainer to Rod Laver Arena for what initially appeared to be a blister on the little finger of his right hand.

The Swiss star looked decidedly uncomfortable and ushered away a nearby television cameraman - "Do you need to be so close?" - but recovered his composure to eventually secure a 3-6 6-3 6-2 6-2 victory.

"I'm very happy," the 17-time grand slam champion said in an on-court interview. "It was a great match. I thought Simone played really well in the first set, so I really had to fight until the middle of the third set and once I got the break I was able to relax a little bit, but it was tough and I'm really pleased to come through.

"I was already seeing myself explaining losing in the second round and I'm happy I don't have to do that interview."

Asked about the injury, second seed Federer added: "I don't know. It felt like a bee stung me. I never had this pain before - it was disturbing me. I knew taping it wasn't the right thing so I just wanted to speak to the trainer. Thankfully it wasn't as bad at the end."

Sixth seed Andy Murray had no such problems in beating Australian Marinko Matosevic in straight sets to remain on course for a fourth-round clash with Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov - the man who ended the defence of his Wimbledon title last year.

Dimitrov beat Lukas Lacko in four sets and now faces Marcos Baghdatis, who knocked out 20th seed David Goffin of Belgium. There were also wins for seventh seed Tomas Berdych, South African Kevin Anderson and France's Richard Gasquet, the latter pair facing each other in the third round.

PA