Andy Murray has recorded his first win over a top 20 player at a Grand Slam since 2017 after knocking 13th seed Matteo Berrettini out of the Australian Open.
Murray, who has reached the final at Melbourne Park on five previous occasions, rolled back the years with a marathon 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7(7), 7-6(10-6), win. In doing so he has ended his three-match losing streak against 2022 semi-finalist Berrettini who has now lost in the first round of the Australian Open three times in his career. The triumph is the Brit’s most high-profile win on the Tour since last June when he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Stuttgart Open.
Playing in his 56th Grand Slam main draw, Murray’s latest performance featured a total of 39 winners against 34 unforced errors. He also won 72% of his first service points and dropped serve only once. The victory is also Murray’s first of the season.
“I’ll be feeling this evening and tomorrow but I’m just unbelievably happy,” Murray said during his on-court interview.
“I put a lot of work into the last few months with my team, to give me the opportunity to perform in matches like this and it paid off tonight.
“Some of the tennis felt really good. He was unbelievable and a brilliant competitor.”
The former world No.1 settled into the match almost instantly as he roared his way to a two-set lead without dropping his serve in under 90 minutes. Much to the frustration of his opponent who was struggling to find consistency in his shot-making and failed to successfully utilise his usually trustworthy forehand.
However, Murray encountered his first blip when he was on the verge of sealing a straightforward win. Leading 6-3, 6-3, 2-2, he had two break point chances but failed to convert both of them. Then to add to his problems a rejuvenated Berrettini ponced in the following game by breaking en route to snatching the third set. The Italian won 21 out of 24 points played behind his first serve during the third set which was a substantial improvement compared to the first two.
Continuing his comeback, Berrettini went on to level proceedings after surviving what was a tense fourth frame where twice he had to serve to stay in the match and was at one stage two points away from defeat. Then in the tiebreaker, he saw two set points come and go before he prevailed in a 17-shot rally that ended with a Murray forehand error.
With all to play for in the decider, alarm bells started to ring for Murray when he was heard saying towards his camp ‘my focus has gone.’ Nevertheless, both players continued to match each other game-by-game until 5-4 when Berrettini became the first to earn a match point but failed to convert after collapsing when trying to hit a backhand passing shot.
Avoiding the danger, a tiring Murray came out on top in the final tiebreaker which he began perfectly by winning five points in a row. This was enough of a margin to help him cross the finish line as he closed the match out with a lucky net cord in his favour.
“That’s the first time I’ve played a match tiebreaker, first to 10, and it’s a bit different,” said Murray.
“It feels like you are still far away. He came away strong and I was lucky at the end. But it felt like the tennis at the end was really good. He was serving unbelievable and he’s a brilliant competitor – one of the best – he always fights to the end.”
Murray’s latest victory at Melbourne Park is the 50th in his career. In the Open Era, only four other men have reached that milestone at the tournament – Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Stefan Edberg. Coincidentally, his latest match was also the 50th time in the Open Era there has been a Grand Slam clash between a British and Italian player.
Murray, who is currently coached by Ivan Lendl, has now reached the Australian Open second round in 12 out of 15 appearances. He will next play either Fabio Fognini or Thanasi Kokkinakis.
