Murray turns back clock at 4am
SCOT PLAYS HIS LONGEST MATCH TO OVERTURN TWO-SET DEFICIT AGAINST KOKKINAKIS
The times on the clock shifted from pm to am, the day from Thursday to Friday, and Andy Murray never wavered, never relented, no matter that he faced a twoset hole at the Australian Open, no matter that he is 35 and possesses an artificial hip, no matter that this was the longest and latest-finishing match of his long, illustrious career.
His explanation was simple: “I have a big heart.”
The three-time major champion and 26-year-old Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis stared down exhaustion and each other for 5 hours, 45 minutes of compelling theatre in a second-round contest at Melbourne Park until Murray emerged with a 4-6, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-3, 7-5 victory that ended a little after 4am.
“The match was obviously very up and down. There was frustration in there. There was tension. There was excitement and all of that stuff,” Murray told reporters gathered in a stadium hallway after his 11th career comeback to win after dropping two sets, the most among active players.
Too tired
“I mean, look, it is obviously amazing to win the match,” he continued with a chuckle, “but I also want to go to bed now. It’s great. But I want to sleep.”
How tight was this? Murray won 196 points, Kokkinakis 192. And how high was the quality of play? They combined for 171 winners to only 107 unforced errors in the chill of a temperature that dipped below 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius), delighting the hundreds of enthusiastic and loud spectators who remained in the blue seats.
They waved flags and cheered raucously throughout, delighted by the extreme effort and excellence displayed by both men. No matter who folks were cheering for, they were sure to leave with a great story to tell. “Amazingly, people stayed until the end,” said Murray, who won the US. Open in 2012, Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016 and is a five-time runnerup at the Australian Open. “I really appreciate people doing that and creating an atmosphere for us.”
He was, understandably, not pleased by the circumstances and the late hour.
“I don’t know who it’s beneficial for,” Murray said. “A match like that, we come here after the match and that’s what the discussion is: Rather than it being ‘epic Murray-Kokkinakis match,’ it ends in a bit of a farce.”
Murray won 196 points, Kokkinakis 192. They combined for 171 winners to only 107 unforced errors in the chill of 15 degrees Celsius.