Andy Murray defeated Italian 13th seed Matteo Berrettini to earn one of his best wins in recent memory. It comes after British No. 2 Dan Evans’ triumph over Argentina’s Facundo Bagnis in four sets.
After the final set of the Australian Open went to a tie-break, former Wimbledon winner Andy Murray eliminated Matteo Berrettini. Murray defeated Berrettini with a score of 6-3 6-3 4-6 6-7 (7-9) 6-6 (*10-6) in Melbourne’s first-round upset.
Murray won the first two sets in his attempt to defeat a top-20 player at a grand slam for the first time since his hip issues started in 2017. However, Berrettini battled back to draw the match by triumphing in a thrilling fourth-set tie-break.
After four hours and 49 minutes of play, the Scot was able to win a victory—one of his largest in recent memory. Murray claimed in a post-match interview with Eurosport that the 10-point tiebreaker will affect him today and tomorrow but that he was “unbelievably delighted and proud” of himself anyway.
“In order to give me the chance to play in venues like this and games like this, I’ve worked really hard over the past three months with my team, and it paid off today, he added. I’ve never played one of those 10-point tie-breakers before, and it’s a little strange. He came back with great force, and I got a little lucky with the net cord in the end, he provided great service and is a terrific competitor who always fights to the last end. I did well to succeed,” he said.
Murray’s victory came one year after his initial hip surgery when he was given a career send-off at Melbourne Park and eliminated in the first round. Murray took the choice to carry on playing after undergoing a second surgery, at which point he was fitted with a metal hip.
He held the top spot in the world in 2016. At the age of 35, Murray is now rated No. 66. Dan Evans defeated Argentina’s Facundo Bagnis in four sets in another triumph for Great Britain after play was delayed due to the intense heat. Before play was stopped, the British No. 2 had taken nearly three hours to gain a two-sets-to-one lead. With a break in the eighth game, he improved in the fourth and served out a 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-4 triumph.
Its closure somewhat slows the conditions, which was marginally useful in mitigating the sting from the massive Berrettini serve and forehand combo.
Murray started out quickly, returning forcefully and attacking the backhand, and he took advantage of some noticeably shaky play from the number thirteen seed.
The Scot turned back the clock on a court where he has so much history, some of it misery in the five finals he has lost, and he was astonishingly quick on break points when he moved two sets up.
When Murray failed to convert two break points that would have moved him to 3-1 at 2-2 in the third set, the match was over. After that, he gave a poor service game to be broken, visibly losing patience with his box.
