Australian Open 2023: Andy Murray gets past Matteo Berrettini in a 5-set thriller; social media pleased

By Ayush Gupta | First Published Jan 17, 2023, 2:17 PM IST

Australian Open 2023: Andy Murray was in a brutal encounter against Matteo Berrettini in the opening round on Monday. However, the former held his nerve to see off the latter in a five-set thriller, pleasing his fans on Twitter.

Former three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray of Great Britain was off to a resounding start in the 2023 Australian Open. Up against 13th seed Matteo Berrettini of Italy, it was an improbable task for both men, as the two rightfully put on a show at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne on Tuesday. It was a five-set thriller, where the two sorted things out in a tie-breaker in the last couple of sets, and the Brit prevailed, winning 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7(7), 7-6(10-5). It was the first Top 20 triumph for the former five-time AO runner-up in over four years, while the match lasted four hours and 49 minutes.

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Murray said about his conquest, “I’ll be feeling this evening and tomorrow, but I’m just unbelievably happy, very proud of myself. I’ve put a lot of work into the past few months with my team here to allow me to perform on stadiums like this and in matches like this against players like Matteo, and it paid off tonight.”

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“That’s the first time I’ve ever played one of those 10-point tie-breakers. It’s a bit different. When you’re up 6/1, or 7/1 or whatever, it feels like you’re still quite far away. He [Berrettini] came back really strong, and I was just a bit lucky at the end with the net cord,” he added of his return on match point, which dribbled over the net,” added Murray.

“I think at the end some of the tennis was good. It felt like that playing. I don’t know what it looked like. He [Berrettini] was serving unbelievably, and he’s also a brilliant competitor, one of the best competitors on the Tour. He always fights right to the end, so I did well to get through,” Murray concluded. On Thursday, he will take on the winner of Athanasios Kokkinakis and Fabio Fognini in the next round.

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