![]() I always thought a top 50 ranking would be both a magnificent achievement and the most he could achieve following his two hip operations.īut the way he has emerged from pre-season training, and those three spartan weeks in Florida, means I may need to adjust my sights. Murray took great pride from a screenshot he was sent which suggested he had finished more points at the net than anyone else, although he will know he needs to be quicker to wrap up matches. Having knocked out Berrettini, Murray's path to the semi-finals would not have contained a single top 20 player - although that is academic now. Murray, a 35-year-old, five-time Australian Open runner-up who nearly retired at this event four years ago, won 4-6, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-3, 7-5 over the Australian Kokkinakis in 5 hours, 45 minutes, the longest match of his career. What could Andy Murray achieve in the rest of this year's Grand Slams if he does not need to get up after three hours' sleep - and a 04:05 finish - to have some blisters drained?ĭraws can open up, as this Australian Open has shown. at the Australian Open in Melbourne, beating Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second-latest finish in Grand Slam tennis history. "I would like to go out playing tennis like this, where I'm competing with the best players in the world in the biggest events and doing myself justice." AnalysisīBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller at Melbourne Park "Obviously you never know exactly when the end is going to be," he added. ![]() Murray announced at the 2019 Australian Open that he planned to have hip resurfacing surgery, which he feared would end his career.Īfter losing to Bautista Agut in the first round, the tournament played a now-infamous retirement video featuring goodbye messages from his rivals.īut, four years later, Murray is still playing and he is upbeat about his chances of a deep run at a major. It's more enjoyable for me when I'm playing like that, when I'm coming into a major event and really believing that I can do some damage." "I felt good about the way that I was playing. "The sacrifices and the effort I put in allowed me to get through those matches and play at a high level that I think was entertaining for the people watching. "There were maybe times in the last year or so where I didn't really feel like I was playing well and I didn't enjoy the way that I was playing," he said. He was then back on court at 19:00 local time on Saturday to face Bautista Agut, 34, and it was quickly apparent the Scot was struggling to move.ĭespite a battling effort, former world number one Murray was unable to reach the fourth round of a major for the first time since 2017. ![]() That came after the three-time major champion took nearly five hours to win his opening encounter against Italian 13th seed Matteo Berrettini on Tuesday.Īfter seeing off Kokkinakis, Murray said he managed just three hours' sleep before returning to Melbourne Park to have "seven or eight" blisters on his feet drained. Murray, ranked 66th in the world, needed five hours and 45 minutes to beat Australia's Thanasi Kokkinakis in a thrilling match ending in the early hours of Friday.
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