Australian Open: Andy Murray holds off Matteo Berrettini to win five-set epic in Melbourne

Andy Murray was back to his best after a difficult start to the Australian Open. The British world number one had been under the cosh against Italian qualifier Matteo Berrettini, who had stunned top seed Novak Djokovic in round one. But Murray came through 7-6 4-6 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 in a gripping five-setter that lasted two hours 47 minutes. “Matteo played really well,” said Murray. “I think he has a bright future ahead of him.” He’s got plenty of weapons and I thought he used them well today. He served well, he returned well and made me play loads of balls.” Berrettini played an aggressive game, hitting 77 winners to Murray’s 56 but it wasn’t enough as Murray closed out victory with his eighth ace

Andy Murray was back to his best after a difficult start to the Australian Open.

Murray struggled in the first set and was broken in the third. But he came back to win the match, 6-7(5) 6-4 7-6(2) 6-3, and will now face Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals.

Murray said he had been nervous at times but thought he played well overall. “I’m happy with how I played,” he said after his victory over Berrettini at Rod Laver Arena. “Obviously, when you win a five set match like that there are always things you can work on.”

The British world number one had been under the cosh against Italian qualifier Matteo Berrettini, who had stunned top seed Novak Djokovic in round one.

Murray will now face either Japan’s Kei Nishikori or China’s Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals.

The British world number one had been under the cosh against Italian qualifier Matteo Berrettini, who had stunned top seed Novak Djokovic in round one.

But after dropping the third set 6-2 and facing two match points at 5-3 down in the fourth set tiebreak, Murray dug deep to break back and level things up before going on to win 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (9/11).

But Murray came through 7-6 4-6 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 in a gripping five-setter that lasted two hours 47 minutes.

But in a gripping five-setter that lasted two hours 47 minutes, the Scot fought back from a break down in the fifth set to take the match 7-6 4-6 6-3 6-7 (5) 6-1.

It was Murray’s third Australian Open final and his first since 2016, when he lost to Novak Djokovic.

He said: “It’s been two years since I won a Grand Slam tournament so this means a lot.”

“Matteo played really well,” said Murray. “I think he has a bright future ahead of him.

“Matteo played really well,” said Murray. “I think he has a bright future ahead of him, but I’m proud of how I competed today and came through after such a tough match against Novak (Djokovic) yesterday.”

Murray’s win means he will face either world number one Rafael Nadal or Juan Martin del Potro in the semi-finals on Friday.

“He’s got plenty of weapons and I thought he used them well today. He served well, he returned well and made me play loads of balls.”

“He’s got plenty of weapons and I thought he used them well today,” said Murray, who won 6-3 6-7 (2/7) 6-4 7-6 (7/5) in 2hr 57min.

“He served well, he returned well and made me play loads of balls.”

Murray added: “I’m pleased with how I played in general but there are still things that need to improve if I want to win this tournament.”

Berrettini played an aggressive game, hitting 77 winners to Murray’s 56 but it wasn’t enough as Murray closed out victory with his eighth ace.

• Berrettini played an aggressive game, hitting 77 winners to Murray’s 56 but it wasn’t enough as Murray closed out victory with his eighth ace.
• The match lasted almost three hours.

The match lasted almost three hours!

You might think that a match between two players can’t possibly last more than an hour or so. But it turns out that tennis matches are actually best of five sets, with each set lasting up to one hour and 45 minutes. That means you could watch six hours of tennis in one day!

You may also be surprised by how many days it takes for some players to complete a whole tournament (also known as a “tournament”). Some tournaments only last one day, but others can go on for four days or even five.

Conclusion

Murray will now face either Stan Wawrinka or Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarter-finals.