![]() “He knows very well how to play a grand slam match. “Always playing Andy is very tough,” Bautista Agut said during his on-court interview. “2 days ago I randomly bumped into the doctor who in 2017 told me ‘the good news is the problem you have in your hip can be fixed but you won’t be able to play professional sport again.’ I think we dispelled that myth the last 5 days,” Murray tweeted after the match on Saturday.īautista Agut will now play American Tommy Paul in the last 16. The pair had previously met on the Margaret Court Arena in 2019 in what was supposedly Murray’s last game at the grand slam.īut the veteran decided to continue his career and, after receiving multiple treatments for injuries, Murray has proved he still has more to give four years later. Murray never went away though, and continued to punish his opponent until the very end and produced an array of stunning shots.Īfter losing match point, Murray received a standing ovation from the crowd as he limped off the court. The grueling second set seemed to take its toll on Murray as Bautista Agut had the edge for the rest of the match. ![]() Clive Brunskill/Getty Images AsiaPac/Getty Images Murray struggled physically for much of the match. It was yet another example of the grit and determination Murray brings to the sport of tennis but, on this occasion, it just wasn’t enough. It was no surprise, then, that Murray looked exhausted as he struggled to get grips with the first set which was over before it really began.īut, as he has done throughout his career, Murray dug deep and rallied from a break down in the second set to win an astonishing tie break. ![]() The second round match, which finished on Friday morning, was the longest of Murray’s career. The 35-year-old had needed five sets to beat Matteo Berrettini in the first round of the tournament and then rallied from two sets down to beat Thanasi Kokkinakis in an epic contest which lasted five hours and 45 minutes and finished at 4.05am. Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesĪndy Murray left fuming as he's not allowed to use toilet during five-set marathon at Australian Open It ended up being perhaps the most crucial point of the match, one that will no doubt go down as an all-time classic in Australia, as Kokkinakis destroyed his racket in frustration following Murray’s defensive heroics.Andy Murray of Great Britain reacts during the change over in their round two singles match against Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia during day four of the 2023 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Januin Melbourne, Australia. With Kokkinakis two sets up and leading 2-0 in the third set, Murray improbably chased down five successive shots that all should have been winners, before eventually forcing his opponent into a mistake to break serve. One point in particular will certainly live long in the memory. Not only did the Scot hang in there, he rolled back the years to produce some stunning tennis in what ended up being the second-longest match in Australian Open history. ![]() There were times during the match, in particular during that third set, when Murray looked down and out, trudging back to the baseline after every point with an exhausted expression on his face. 'The guy's drunk out of his mind': Novak Djokovic demands fan get kicked out of Australian Open match after being heckledĪfter a grueling five-setter against Matteo Berrettini in the opening round, most viewers wondered whether Murray would have anything left in the tank for round two. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake) Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/AP Novak Djokovic of Serbia argues with the chair umpire during his second round match against Enzo Couacaud of France at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Jan.
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