Andy Murray completes Australian Open miracle after triumphing in five hour and 45 minute marathon in second round
British legend Andy Murray produced a sensational comeback to win a five-set thriller and book his place in the Australian Open third round in a marathon of a match which lasted five hours and 45 minutes.
The three-time Grand Slam champion narrowly lost the first two sets after being broken just once in the first with his second-round opponent, world No.159 Thanasi Kokkinakis, buoyed by his home crowd on the Margaret Court Arena – with the Australian requiring a tie-break to edge past Murray in the second.
But Murray, 35, battled back from 2-5 down in the third – on the brink of defeat – to go on an incredible run and win three sets in a row to win 4-6 6-7 7-6 6-3 7-5 in a match which did not end until past 4am local time in Melbourne.
Former world No.1 Murray, now ranked world No.66 and plays with a metal hip, won a tie-break to win the third set, which lasted one hour and 22 minutes, before coming out on top in the fourth and then the fifth to win a truly epic contest – officially the longest match of Murray’s entire career.
The result means Murray has reached the third round of the Australian Open for the first time in six years and he will next face Spanish 24th-seed Roberto Bautista Agut as he bids to reach the fourth round.
It was a match which had everything and both players were furious at the umpire for different reasons at various points.
Kokkinakis lost his cool when handed a time violation in the third set, smashing a racket and shouting at the umpire: ‘What is that s***?
‘I was there, someone said something, I waited and went again.
‘You were just saying that because you felt bad about his [Murray’s time violation earlier] .
‘You’re not waiting for s***. You’re wrong. That’s a bad call.’
Murray also hit out at the umpire for refusing him a toilet break at the end of the fourth set.
‘Do you know something? I respect the rules,’ Murray said.
‘But it’s a joke. It is a joke and you know it as well. It’s disrespectful.
‘It’s so disrespectful to the players that the tournament has us out here until three, f****** four in the morning and we aren’t allowed to go to the toilet and take a p***. It’s a joke, it’s disrespectful.’
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