Roberto Bautista save the honor of the ‘Armada’ at the Australian Open. The man from Castellón, seeded twenty-fourth in the draw, He passed the Andy Murray test this Saturday 6-1, 6-7 (7), 6-3 and 6-4. The Spanish of the stands was remembered at the time of the celebration.
Bautista gets into the round of 16 of the great of the antipodes for the fifth time and becomes the fourth national racket to repeat that round so many times in the Open Era. The other three were Rafael Nadal (15), David Ferrer (9) and Tommy Robredo (5).
From the warm-up it appeared that Murray had not recovered from the 5 hour and 45 minute previous match with Thanasi Kokkinakis that ended at 4:05am on Friday in Melbourne.
The last time that Spain had not placed a representative in the round of 16 of a ‘Grand Slam’ (men and women) was at the US Open in 2022.
This circumstance will not be repeated in the ‘Aussie’ Open. At 35 years old, and after two five-set duels and a double hip operation, Murray was not very happy.
Rober scored 14 of the first 15 points. The start summed up what the game would be: a wanted and couldn’t of the Scottish veteran against a rival who gave away practically nothing.
The stands at the Margaret Court Arena were with Andy, but that did not mislead Daniel Gimeno’s pupil at any time. “It was a Davis Cup atmosphere,” he recalls from their only previous meeting in Melbourne in the 2019 edition.
Murray opened his game locker when the score already reflected a 3-0 for his executioner. That was the only game they won in the first set.
The Dunblane tennis player was limping and that did not allow him to be precise with his shots. Each of the few points he added raised his faithful followers.
A new ‘break’ seemed to help the Spaniard put the direct to victory. Then the magic of the three-big champion appeared, who was able to take the game to his home ground and equalize it in sudden death..
The Castellonese offered his best version again from the third set, which also fell on his side. His opponent had already run out of gasoline.
Paul threatens the Navy
Bautista will face Tommy Paul for a place in the quarterfinals. The American is a threat as he has won the last 10 matches against Spanish tennis players in his favor.
