
Andy Murray has got off to a shaky start at the Australian Open after coming through a tough 7-5, 7-6(5), 6-2, win over Ukraine’s Illya Marchenko.
Bidding to win his first title in Melbourne, Murray struggled to find the right balance in his shots throughout the match. The inability was one which frustrated the Brit, who was shouting and complaining in the in the direction of his camp. One prominent feature in Murray’s outbursts was complaints about his movement, which contributed towards his 27 unforced errors.
Taking to the Melbourne court as the top seed for the first time of his career, a bout of nerves hampered Murray’s play throughout the opening set. Three double faults in the first game of the match handed Marchenko an immediate break before the Brit regained his footing by surging to a 4-1 lead. Despite the advantage, Murray remained unsettled on the court with Marchenko growing in confidence as he clawed his way back to level 5-5. Despite a mini resurgence from the Ukrainian, it was the world No.1 who prevailed. As Marchenko served to stay in the set, a duo of unforced errors gifted Murray the break to clinch the opening set after 55 minutes of play. Handing a sense of relief to the nervous Murray camp in the crowd.
Murray’s woes continued beyond the opening set, with the 7-5 advantage failing to deter Marchenko’s determination in the encounter. A well constructed rally concluded with the underdog hitting a forehand winner to break Murray once again to swiftly open up a 3-1 lead in the second. Emulating the early stages of the match, the top seed triumphantly responded by clawing his way back to level 4-4. Struggling to pull away from his rival, Murray had to wait until a tiebreak to gather some momentum. Disposing of Marchenko’s serve with ease, the Wimbledon champion strolled to a trio of set points with an ace down the line. The two-sets lead was then sealed a couple points later with the help of a blistering Murray forehand that his rival couldn’t return back in court.
Closing out the testing victory, Murray finally found the winning formula to crush the spirited performance of Marchenko. A poor forehand volley at the net from the Ukrainian elevated the Brit closer towards the finish line. The threats pose to the world No.1 was no more as Marchenko’s error count mounted and consistency faded. Serving for a place in the second round, the tricky win was secured after a lengthy rally concluded with an error No. 62 from his opponent.
Recording a first serve rate of 48%, Murray will be eager to build on his performance in the next round. Awaiting the top seed in the last 64 will be Russia’s Andrey Rublev, who defeated Lu Yen-hsun in four sets.
“It’s wasn’t the best match.” Murray told Eurosport UK. “I didn’t manage to hit the ball clean from the back of the court, but I managed to get through it in straight sets. It was tough conditions with it being hot, but the court was so much more lively than the past couple of days.”
“I didn’t feel that comfortable controlling the ball from the back. I started to feel a bit better towards the end, but it was a tough match.” He added.
This year the 29-year-old is bidding to become the first British man to win the Australian Open since Fred Perry in 1934. Reflecting on his rise to the top, Murray has attributed his success to what he has learned from playing against some of the biggest names in the sport.
“Roger, Rafa and Novak, are three of the greatest players to ever play the game.” Said Murray.
“It’s been tough, but I kept working, kept finding ways to be better. Also, having those guys around has helped me a lot because I have had to learn from my losses to improve. It’s been tough, but I finally managed to get there (to world No.1). He added.
Murray’s second round match on Wednesday will be the tenth in his career at Melbourne since 2007.