Battling Sir Andy goes down fighting
Murray out of Australian Open after third round loss
Brave Andy Murray crashed out of the Australian Open despite his heroic efforts.
The Dunblane ace showed great determination and a will to win in Melbourne – but he couldn’t stop himself from being knocked out at the hands of Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut on Saturday in the third round of the tournament.
It came after the 35-year-old performed heroics in the second round, coming from two sets down to Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis to seal a 3-2 win in one of the most gruelling matches in Australian Open history. The pair played for five hours and 45 minutes, with the match only finishing in the early hours of the morning.
Murray somehow roused himself following his late-night heroics against Kokkinakis to battle for another three hours and 29 minutes on Margaret Court Arena against Bautista Agut.
The Spaniard toppled Murray, winning 6-1 6-7 (7) 6-3 6-4.
“I feel like I gave everything I had to this event, so I’m proud of that,” said the two-time Wimbledon winner who spent 14 hours and three minutes on court during his three matches.
“That is really, in whatever you’re doing, all you can do. You can’t always control the outcome, you can’t control how well you’re going to play.
“I’m also disappointed because I put loads of work into the beginning of this year and was playing well enough to have a really good run.
“I think even tonight, I’m competing against a guy who is 20th in the world and it’s still very tight considering the circumstances.
“I’m disappointed because I feel I could have gone quite a bit further.”
The contest came four years after Murray tearfully revealed the extent of his chronic hip pain and that he was considering his future ahead of a first-round clash with Bautista Agut.
After he battled back from two sets down in a five-set defeat, the tournament played a premature video montage of tributes from fellow players – only for the Scot to raise hopes he might be back.
For the first time in six years, he arrived at Melbourne Park feeling genuinely positive about his body and his game and his first-round victory over Matteo Berrettini was considered to be his best since 2017 – but the physical toll was enormous
Murray, who credited a rigorous pre-season training regime for his improved form and fitness, added: “I would like to go out playing tennis like this, where I’m competing with the best players in the world in the biggest events and doing myself justice.
“There were maybe times in the last year or so where I didn’t really feel like I was playing well and I didn’t enjoy the way I was playing.
“Those sacrifices and that effort that I put in allowed me to get through those matches and play at a high level, which I think was entertaining for the people watching.
“I felt good about the way I was playing. It’s more enjoyable for me when I’m playing like that, when I’m coming into a major event and really believing I can do some damage. I can have a deeper run than the third round of a slam, no question.
“Draws can open up for you. I need to also help myself with that.
“If I was playing at this level last year, I probably wouldn’t be ranked 50, 60 in the world. It’s up to me to try and change that.”
Murray won only one of the first 15 points and lost the first set in 29 minutes but he began to get a foothold in the second, using the enthusiastic crowd who were trying to will him to another miracle.
Murray saved two set points in the tie-break before clinching it as the stadium rose to applaud him.
However Bautista Agut, who had made some untimely errors, managed to shut everything out in the third and a break at the start of the fourth for Murray proved a false dawn.