DailyExpertNews
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Andy Murray won an epic five-set battle with No. 13 Matteo Berrettini in the opening round of the 2023 Australian Open on Tuesday.
The three-time Grand Slam winner had to save match point in the final set and rallied in the deciding tiebreak to win 6-3 6-3 4-6 6-7(7-9) 7-6(10-6) in the Rod Laver Arena.
After years of devastating injuries that had jeopardized his tennis career, Murray struggled to contain his emotions in the immediate aftermath as his achievement dawned on him.
The epic four-hour, 49-minute win was Murray’s first victory over a top-20 opponent at a grand slam since 2017.
“I’m going to feel this tonight and tomorrow, but right now I’m incredibly happy, very proud of myself,” Murray said in his court interview afterwards.
“I’ve put in a lot of work over the last few months with my team here to give me the opportunity to perform in stadiums like this and in games like this against players like Matteo, and it paid off tonight.”
Murray and Berrettini’s first round tie was comfortably the big game of the opening series – and it didn’t disappoint.
The 35-year-old Murray raced to a quick two-set lead and used his slashed shots to keep last year’s semi-finalist off balance.
But the Italian showed the grit and class he is known for slowly but surely reeling Murray back in before taking the scores to two sets apiece.
The deciding set went with serves, as both players attempted to pounce on their opponent’s fouls, with both serves looking impressive.
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With Berrettini taking a 5-4 lead and Murray serving to stay in play, the Scot had to deflect a match point to hold his serve and stay in play.
And in the tiebreak – played to 10 points in a match-deciding set – Murray looked back at his best, racing to a big lead before finally steering himself to a famous victory.
It was Murray’s 50th Australian Open win and one of his most memorable, even for someone who has reached the final of the tournament five times before.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever played one of those 10-point tie-breakers,” Murray said. “It’s a little bit different. When you’re up 6-1, or 7-1 or whatever, it feels like you’re still pretty far off. He came back very strong and I was just lucky with the net cord at the end,” he added of his return to match point, which dribbled over the net.
Murray added: “I think at the end some of the tennis was really good. It felt like playing that, I don’t know what it looked like. He served unbelievably and he’s also a brilliant competitor, one of the best competitors in the Tour. He always fights to the end, so I did well to get through it.
Murray now faces Thanasi Kokkinakis or Fabio Fognini in the second round on Thursday.
