Four seasons in one Melbourne day for perplexed Tipsarevic

By Greg Stutchbury

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic appeared to be channeling New Zealand songwriter Neil Finn on Friday, suggesting Melbourne's weather was "crazy".

Finn and his band Crowded House's lyrical love letter to the city's fickle weather, "Four Seasons In One Day", has been aptly demonstrated.

On Thursday, blazing sunshine greeted the players as temperatures exceeded 40 Celsius (104F).

In less than 24 hours, the temperature had dropped to around 21C (72F) by the time play started on Friday, while brief rain showers forced the roof on both the Rod Laver and Hisense Arena courts to be closed.

The disparity was perplexing for the Serb.

"The weather in Australia, I have to say it's crazy," the world number nine said after his 3-6 6-4 2-6 6-4 6-3 victory over France's Julien Benneteau.

"You don't know what are you going to get.

"I mean, three days ago it was really cold when I played Lacko. Two days ago it was like 70 degrees Celsius on the court.