Sydney - Australian stocks Tuesd

Melbourne, Jan 20 : Tourism Queensland has assured that the Great Barrier Reef "dream job" is real despite attracting criticism for publicising a fake applicant.

The tourism officials have admitted that the video of a woman getting a tattoo in order to win the `dream job' was fake - insisting it was a lapse in judgement of posting it without any indication.

The video showed an Australian woman "Tegan" getting a tattoo to showcase her passion for the Great Barrier Reef, in a bid to land the six-month, 150,000 dollars job, who is otherwise an employee of the ad agency behind the campaign.

Adelaide, Australia  - Cycling legend Lance Armstrong looked comfortable Tuesday in his first stage race since the last of his seven Tour de France victories in 2005.

The 37-year-old Texan, out of retirement and at the head of the Astana Team, finished safely in the bunch in the first stage of Australia's Tour Down Under in the south-coast city of Adelaide,

German Andre Greipel, last year's winner of the six-day event, won a sprint finish ahead of Australians Stuart O'Grady and Baden Cooke.

Sania Mirza breezed into the second round of the Australian Open tournament by getting the better of Marta Domachowhska. The Indian dominated throughout and an improved serve saw her easily overcome the challenge put forth by Marta.

The Hyderabadi girl served with consistency and hit attacking groundstrokes to outplay her opponent, ranked 61 in the world, 6-1, 6-4.

The 22 year old Sania was raced away with the first set in less than half an hour.

Melbourne - Pale-skinned Andy Murray cheated the heat on Tuesday at the Australian Open, aided by a brief 45-minute outing as Romanian Andrei Pavel quit their first-round match trailing 6-2, 3-1 with a chronic back injury.

Murray, who lost sensationally in the first round at Melbourne Park a year ago, used the court to his advantage to gain some small respite from temperatures which soared into the high 30s Celsius.

Melbourne  - Jelena Dokic is using the appearance at only her second Australian Open in the past seven years as emotional body armour against a personal life which at one time was off the rails.

The 25-year-old Belgrade-born Australian who has brought her ranking back to 187, won a match at the venue for the first time since 1999.

But in a tear-stained interview, she revealed that the estrangement from her family has taken a huge emotional toll.