Andy’s focus on Melbourne after tearful final loss EMMA ADVERTISES HER FEELINGS
ANDY MURRAY choked back tears after losing his firstatptour final since 2019 – and then admitted he is missing his young family. The former world No.1 was blown away 6-3, 6-3 by big-hitting top seed Aslan Karatsev at the Sydney Tennis Classic.
The Russian world No.20, who reached the Australian Open semis last year, blasted 29 winners in his 92-minute victory.
Winning four matches and getting to the final is Murray’s best result since he won the European Open in Antwerp 27 months ago.
But the Scot, who left home to fly Down Under on December 27, showed real emotion when talking to his wife, Kim, and his four children back in Surrey in his post-match interview.
“I’d like to thank my family back home,” he said. “I don’t know if you’re all watching but I miss you all. First time back in the finals for three years. It’s been a long road but I couldn’t have done it without all the help of my team.
“And I’ve really missed playing in front of these sorts of crowds and in these sorts of matches.
“Unfortunately, the result didn’t go my way tonight but I’ll keep trying my best to come back and have more nights like this.”
Murray started tentatively and was broken in the first game as Karatsev raced into an early lead after a couple of solid holds.
Three-times Grand Slam winner Murray, 34, struggled on serve throughout the opening set, landing just 48 per cent of his first serves and hitting four double faults.
The second set began much like the first as 28-year-old Karatsev broke early to seize the advantage, consistently hurting Murray with a barrage of powerful winners from the back of the court.
Murray showed glimpses of his old self in the fifth game that lasted nearly 13 minutes as the Brit battled to get a break back, but Karatsev weathered the storm and held on, eventually taking the match in one hour 32 minutes to claim his third career title.
Murray, who will climb up to world No.113, will play Nikoloz Basilashvili in the first round of the Australian Open after beating the world No.23 in the Sydney quarter-finals.
It is the first time the Scot will play the first Grand Slam of the season since he feared his career was over after his first-round defeat in 2019.
He said: “I have put so much work and effort into getting back into these positions and to be competing for tournaments again and I am really looking forward to playing in the Australian Open for the first time in three years.there are a lot of positives this week.”
Karatsev, who beat Dan Evans in the semi, missed the ATP
Cup earlier this month after testing positive for Covid-19.
“It is even more impressive to come back straight away and play at that level,” added Murray.
Paula Badosa beat French
Open champion Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 in the women’s event.
The Spaniard, who sent down 12 aces on the way to claiming the third singles title of her career, said the match could have gone either way.
“Maybe one winner that I hit, one serve, maybe she missed one ball. Sometimes, these kind of matches, it’s one point or two,” she said.
“I had the same experience in the Indianwells final.the good thing is I fought till the end.”
Thanasi Kokkinakis won his first ATP title in his home town when he won the Adelaide International 2 by beating Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech 6-7, 7-6, 6-3.
Neal Skupski and his Dutch partnerwesley Koolhof claimed the doubles title.
Madison Keys won her first title since 2019 in the women’s event, thrashing
Alison Riske 6-1, 6-2.
EMMA RADUCANU has revealed her stunning new Nike ad reflects “what I’m feeling right now” before she returns to Slam action at the Australian Open. The British No.1, who is recovering from a bad bout of Covid, has struggled for form since her US Open triumph.
And England rugby coach Eddie Jones claimed last year she had fallen prey to “distractions” after becoming an instant A-list celebrity with appearances at the Met Gala and the James Bond premiere.
But in her new commercial for the American sports giant, the Bromley 19-year-old is shown playing tennis with the words “distracted”, “fluke” and “one-hit wonder” written large in the background. The ad, which concludes with the slogan “World off, game on”, has already attracted over 500,000 views on her Instagram page.
The teenager said: “I loved it because it was very nice of Nike to have my back like that.
“And I feel like the video says a lot without saying anything so it speaks for itself.
“It’s a big production and the
Nike ads are pretty iconic so to be a part of one was a very cool thing.
“I think it reflected me and what I’m feeling right now.”
Raducanu will face the 2017 US Open winner Sloane Stephens in
her opening match on Tuesday after not winning on the WTA Tour since October. She contracted Covid last month and then lost in only 55 minutes to Elena Rybakina at the Sydney International.
But the world No.17 said she was returning to action after missing three weeks of training because of the virus and slept “half the day” and watched box sets during her isolation in an Abu Dhabi hotel.
“The first few days were tough and it was obviously tough to isolate and not be able to move and play for that long,” she said.
“Physically, you do lose a little bit of fitness doing that.
“The first week I wasn’t able to practise so much and it was definitely a lack of practise in Sydney. I think I played maybe six, seven, hours – not many at all.
“It’s a challenge to find the balance of wanting to get out there and practise so much straight after coming out of isolation.
“But if you ever do it after not doing anything for 20 days, you always start picking up niggles. Gradually I’m getting there.
“Covid is unpredictable. The preparation hasn’t been ideal, but in the past week I have been enjoying playing here. I’m just happy to be on the tennis court.”
Her illness came after only 10 days of pre-season work with her new coach Torben Beltz.
“I was already making a bit of progress and it was a bit frustrating and a bit of a blow for it to happen at that time,” said Raducanu.
“But at the end of the day, I had to see it as a bit of misfortune for all the great luck I had in 2021.
“Now I feel like there’s actually no pressure on me.
“I’m just happy to be here and have a swing.”