Andy Murray has qualified for the second round of the Australian Open on Tuesday. The five-time finalist of the Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne survived a match point against Matteo Berrettini and beat the Italian in five sets. Alexander Zverev also won a marathon match.
Murray was the winner of the track against Berrettini after a match of just under five hours. It became 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7 (7) and 7-6 (6) in favor of the three-time Grand Slam winner, who seemed to hand over the win after two sets .
In the fifth set he set up nicely. Berrettini got a match point at 5-4, but missed an imposed chance to redeem it, after which Murray struck in the super tie break.
The 35-year-old Murray had lost his last three meetings with Berrettini, the number fourteen in the world. The experienced Scot, who has been plagued by injuries in recent years, is himself the global number 66.
Murray reached the Australian Open final in 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2016. He lost every time: once to Roger Federer and four times to Novak Djokovic.
Murray, who won Wimbledon twice and won the US Open once, will face Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis or Italian Fabio Fognini in the second round of the Australian Open.
Zverev’s first win since his return
Zverev recorded his first victory in Melbourne since his return from a serious ankle injury. The twelfth placed German prevented a stunt from the Peruvian lucky loser Juan Pablo Varillas with 4-6, 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (3) and 6-4.
Last year, Zverev missed Wimbledon and the US Open because he sustained a serious ankle injury at Roland Garros in the semi-final against Rafael Nadal. At the beginning of this month he returned to the United Cup, where he did not win a set.
Andrey Rublev is also in the second round of the Australian Open. The number five on the placement list had little trouble with the fallen top player Dominic Thiem: 6-3, 6-4 and 6-2.
Taylor Fritz gave up one set against Nikoloz Basilashvili. The eighth-seeded American won 6-4, 6-2, 4-6 and 7-5. Pablo Carreño Busta, the number fourteen on the placement list, beat the Argentinian Pedro Cachín: 7-6 (4), 6-1 and 7-6 (3).
With Botic van de Zandschulp and Tallon Fransespoor, two Dutchmen are participating in the men’s tournament. They will meet in the second round on Wednesday.
16 jan 2023 om 20:26
Na 22 jaar weer Nederlands onderonsje op Grand Slam: ‘Weten alles van elkaar’
17 jan 2023 om 07:09
Hartono net als vorig jaar direct uitgeschakeld op Australian Open
