Tennis: Veteran Murray survives fifth-set match point to stun Berrettini at Australian Open

Melbourne – Andy Murray said he had silenced the doubters after defeating Italian 13th seed Matteo Berrettini in five gruelling sets on Tuesday to book a spot in the Australian Open second round.

The three-time Grand Slam champion has battled major hip and abdominal injuries for half a decade but declared himself free of pain and fired up before the tournament.

His renowned grit was on full display in saving match point to topple Berrettini 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7 (7-9), 7-6 (10-6) in 4hr 49min under a closed roof on Rod Laver Arena due to extreme heat, which halted several matches on the outside courts.

It was a huge win for the 35-year-old Scot, now ranked 66th, to knock out the 2022 semi-finalist.

“I think, the last few years, I’ve certainly questioned myself at times,” said Murray, a five-time runner-up at Melbourne Park and former world No. 1 who faces Thanasi Kokkinakis or Fabio Fognini next.

“There’s certainly a lot of people who questioned me and my ability, whether I could still perform at the biggest events and the biggest matches.

“I felt very proud of myself after the match. That’s not something that I generally felt over the years at the end of tennis matches.

“I think I’m proud of the work that I put in the last few months.

“I trained really, really hard over in Florida getting ready to play here.

“I’m really proud of how I fought through that match at the end... I stayed strong and I deserved to win.”

It was Murray’s first victory over a top-20 player at a Grand Slam since defeating ninth-ranked Kei Nishikori in the quarter-finals of the 2017 French Open.

Victory also brought up his 50th Australian Open win, becoming only the fifth man in the Open era to achieve the feat alongside Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Stefan Edberg.

Berrettini called Murray – who plays with a metal hip following career-saving surgery in 2019 – a “great champion”.

“It’s impressive what he could do after so many surgeries, after all the kilometres that he ran in his career,” the 26-year-old said.

“It just shows how much he loves the game, how much he loves these kinds of matches. He’s a great champion. I said it so many times.”

Former world No. 2 Alexander Zverev laboured against Peruvian lucky loser Juan Pablo Varillas before winning another five-setter, 4-6, 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 to join Murray in the second round.

Second seed Casper Ruud nearly had to go the distance but he recovered after going down in the third set to beat Czech Tomas Machac 6-3, 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (5-7), 6-3.

The highlight of the day was when Serbian flags waved and Rod Laver Arena rose to give Novak Djokovic a rapturous welcome back to the Australian Open, a year after he was kicked out of the country.

The nine-time Australian Open champion was deported on the eve of the 2022 event because of his stance on Covid-19 vaccines.

But spectators gave him a rousing reception as he entered the court he has made his own down the years to face Spain’s 75th-ranked Roberto Carballes Baena, a match he won 6-3, 6-4, 6-0.

“I really feel very happy that I’m back in Australia, back here on the court where I had the biggest success in my career,” said Djokovic, who has now won 22 straight matches on Rod Laver Arena since 2019.

“This court is the most special court in my life and I couldn’t ask for a better start to the tournament.”

Meanwhile, 2020 finalist Dominic Thiem’s Australian Open ended in the first round, with the former world No. 3 crashing out to fifth seed Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in a setback on his return from injury.

The Austrian, ranked 98th, was outplayed in 36 deg C heat as he continued his return from a wrist injury which kept him off court for nine months across the 2021 and 2022 seasons. AFP, REUTERS