Facundo Bagnis beat Briton Andy Murray on Tuesday -former world number one- in the first round of the ATP 250 tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, for 6-3, 5-7 and 6-3, in a game played on a mythical stage, Rod Laver Arena, main venue of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year.
The 31-year-old Argentine tennis player was able to save this morning (Argentine time, mid-afternoon in Australia) eleven of the thirteen break-points who conceded with his serve, and thus was able to advance to the round after achieving one of the most resounding victories of his entire career. The top favorite to win the tournament – which will award prizes of $ 521,000 – is the Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who recovered after contracting coronavirus.
“It was a pleasure knowing that I was playing against Murray, and now that I was able to win the feeling is even better. When I found out she was playing on the Rod Laver I came to see her because I hadn’t played on it before, ”Bagnis said on the TV broadcast. Now, the Rosario tennis player will play in the second round, on the same court, against the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.
Murray, former world number one, won 46 ATP tournaments, including three Grand Slam (twice Wimbledon and one US Open), in addition to having been Olympic gold in London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016. Also, in 2015, he won the Davis Cup with Great Britain.
The Scotsman just accepted an invitation to play the Australian Open two years after playing the first Grand Slam of the year for the last time and having said that he would probably not be on those courts again due to a recurring hip injury. Thus, Murray tried to arrive in better conditions to the first great competition of the year: He ended 2021 with good feelings after being a finalist in Abu Dhabi (Andrey Rublev beat him).
The 34-year-old Scotsman couldn’t contain his anger as he averaged the second set: he dropped his racket in frustration after a missed hit. Losing to Bagnis was obviously not in his plans to get back to being competitive at the Australian Open.
Also in Melbourne, Sebastián Báez fell to Italian Andrea Seppi 7-5 and 7-6, in a match where the 21-year-old Argentine won 5-3 in the second set. However, despite the defeat, Báez entered the main draw as “best loser”, after the loss of the Belarusian Iliá Ivashka, and now he will meet the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori, 22 years old.
While, Juan Manuel Cerúndolo qualified for the round of 16 of the Adelaide men’s tennis tournament, also in Australia, after defeating in two sets Australian Alex Bolt 6-2, 6-4, in his first ATP victory on concrete. In the round of 16, Cerúndlo will face Frenchman Gael Monfils, the number one seed of the tournament.
The return from Osaka
The Melbourne ATP had this Tuesday the return to the courts of the Japanese Naomi Osaka, who played his first game in four months. Defeated by 6-4. 3-6 and 6-3 to the French Alize Cornet. Quadruple Grand Slams champion and reigning monarch of the Australian Open, the Asian tennis player decided take a break after losing in the third round of the US Open in 2021 to American Leylah Fernandez.
“I only have one goal for this year, and it has nothing to do with results and things like that. The only thing I want is to feel that I am having fun every time I enter a court, ”said Osaka, quoted by the official WTA site. “I can leave the court knowing that even if I lost, I tried everything I could,” added the Japanese.
“I also have a goal in the press room: never to cry again. I hope to make it. I am a person who cared too much about the results and the ranking and all that. I need to find a way to enjoy the game again: that’s the reason I dedicated myself to this from the beginning”Osaka expanded.
