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What a first-round encounter! The veteran, Andy Murray, has gone and dispatched the 13th seed, Matteo Berrettini, in a five-set thriller. The match lasted almost five hours, and Berrettini battled back from a 2-0 set deficit to take it the distance. Yet in classic Andy Murray fashion, he found a way to win despite Berrettini producing one of the best serving performances of the tournament so far.
You could tell how much it went to Murray as he sat and held back his tears in the chair after the game too. People tend to forget that it was the 2019 Australian Open where Murray essentially announced his retirement from the game. This was due to the awful hip injury that was causing immense pain during both training and competitive matches. But having seen the man out there today, it’s like the hip surgery never even happened!
He was chasing down balls like a man in his mid-20s. And of course, he demonstrated the same willpower that made so many people fall in love with Murray’s game in the first place. Let me take you through the match quickly in case you missed it.
Murray vs Berrettini Result – 2023 Australian Open First Round
Contents
To put this win into perspective, Murray has reached at least the second round of the Australian Open just twice since 2017 – until today. Three of those years he missed due to injury and other issues. Yet he kept the belief and commitment required to put on an incredible show against Berrettini. Here is your overview:
First Two Sets
The first two sets were reasonably straightforward for Andy Murray. He secured breaks in both sets to take them 6-3, 6-3. Murray was playing fantastic tennis during those sets, managing to move Berrettini around the court and use his craft to win big points. And of course, this gave him a nice 2-0 cushion to work with.
Second Two Sets
Unfortunately, Murray started to go off the boil somewhat in the third and fourth sets. He let Berrettini back in when he should have closed the door – a dangerous move against one of the top seeds. Berrettini secured a break in the 3rd which was enough to take it 6-4. And the 4th went to a nail-biting breaker which Berrettini edged by a score of 9-7.
Fifth Set Breakdown
Let’s be honest, Murray was not the favourite going into the fifth. It’s hard to turn it around when you’ve let a 2-0 set lead slip away. Yet he stayed strong and even fought off a match point at 4-5 down in the fifth. This set the stage for a championship tie-break to decide the match. And Murray played a series of clutch points to create an 8-3 lead before Berrettini took it back to 8-6.
Yet Murray held on to that critical service point, and he ended the match by chipping a return that hit the net tape and rolled over. This wasn’t a great way to end a top match, but I’m sure Murray had no complaints.
This has set up a second-round clash with either Fognini or Kokkinakis, which are both winnable matches!
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