AUSSIE AGONY
MURRAY: I WILL NOT BE BACK IF I’M JUST MAKING ROUND TWO OF SLAMS EMMA ALMOST PULLED OUT BEFORE HER DEFEAT BECAUSE OF BAD BLISTERS
ANDY MURRAY and Emma Raducanu both suffered painful losses at the Australian Open yesterday, with the Scot even questioning whether he wants to come back next year.
While Raducanu was hindered by blisters so bad she almost pulled out of her match, for Murray it was more a case of mental anguish in knowing he had hugely under-performed in losing in straight sets to qualifier Taro Daniel.
The world No.120 from Japan is the lowest-ranked player the Scot has lost to at a grand slam. His lacklustre display in losing 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 was a major letdown after beating 21st-seed Nikoloz Basilashvili on his return to Melbourne Park for the first time since appearing close to retirement in 2019.
Murray, who has battled back impressively from hip surgery since then, said: ‘I’m really, really disappointed. Very frustrated. A tough loss for sure.’
Asked if he plans to be back in Melbourne next year, the 34-year-old added: ‘Yeah. But not if I do what I did tonight too often this season. This is a really important year for me for a number of reasons and I want to perform well in the big events.
‘Making second rounds of slams is not something I find particularly motivating. I want to be doing better than that. It depends on how I get on this year results-wise and how I perform in the big events.’
US Open champion Raducanu battled through the pain of blisters on her hand but was beaten 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 by unseeded world No.98 Danka Kovinic.
It is the first time the 19-year-old has been defeated in a completed grandslam match, with her only previous loss coming when she pulled out with breathing difficulties against Ajla Tomljanovic in round four of Wimbledon.
Raducanu, whose preparations were hit by Covid, said: ‘I was struggling with my hand before the match. There were some people in my team that maybe didn’t want me to play but I wanted to go out there and fight through it.’
Asked if she considered pulling out, she added: ‘When I was slicing forehands and really struggling, I was, like, “Do I?”. I fought so hard just to come out to Australia and play here. I didn’t want to go out like that.’