Andy Murray wasn't entirely happy with his epic victory in the second round of the Australian Open. Photo / AP
Andy Murray wasn't entirely happy with his epic victory in the second round of the Australian Open. Photo / AP
A dramatic day four of the Australian Open has stunned the tennis world as upsets headlined a day that ended after 4am with an Andy Murray epic that he rather hadn’t happened that way.
Second seed Caspar Ruud, 8th seed Taylor Fritz, 12th seed Alexander Zverev, 14th seed Pablo Carreno Busta, 23rd seed Diego Schwartzman and 30th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina dropped from the men’s; while women’s 2nd seed Ons Jabeur, 9th seed Veronika Kudermetova, 16th seed Anett Kontaveit, 18th seed Liudmila Samsonova, 27th seed Irina-Camelia Begu all lost on a wild day.
Even men’s favourite Novak Djokovic had a slight scare when World No. 191 Enzo Couacaud took the second set of their match while the Serbian 4th seed appeared to battle his troublesome hamstring.
But it was all just an appetiser for one of the great Australian Open matches between Andy Murray and Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Murray pulled off a ridiculous comeback from two sets down to claim a 4-6 6-7 7-6 6-3 7-5 win in five hours and 45 minutes.
“Absolutely bonkers! Murray through to the third round of the #AusOpen after the longest match of his 18 year career... almost six hours v Kokkinakis. Insane,” tweeted one on-looker.
Andy Murray wasn't entirely happy with his epic victory in the second round of the Australian Open. Photo / AP
However, Murray himself was extremely critical of the scheduling which led to the late finish.
“I don’t know who it’s beneficial for. We come here (to a press conference) after the match, and that’s what the discussion is. Rather than it being like epic Murray-Kokkinakis match, it ends in a bit of a farce,” Murray said.
“Amazingly people stayed until the end. I really appreciate people doing that, creating an atmosphere for us at the end. I really appreciate that. Some people need to work the following day.
“If my child was a ball kid for a tournament, they’re coming home at 5am in the morning, as a parent, I’m snapping at that,” Murray added.
“It’s not beneficial for them. It’s not beneficial for the umpires, the officials. I don’t think it’s amazing for the fans. It’s not good for the players.
“We talk about it all the time. It’s been spoken about for years. When you start the night matches late and have conditions like that, these things are going to happen.”
He was backed by his seven-times doubles grand slam champion brother, Jamie.
“Time for tennis to move to only one match at the night sessions at grand slams,” Jamie tweeted.
“This is the best outcome for ALL singles players. We can’t continue to have players compete into the wee hours of the morning. Rubbish for everyone involved - players/fans/event staff.”
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova joined the calls for change in the wake of the late finish.
“It is essential we create better rules in tennis regarding the weather (light and wind) and starting times or cutoff times for matches,” the 18-time grand slam champion tweeted. “Murray and Kokkinakis will finish around 4am. Crazy — no other sport does this.”
I've decided the way to cover the Australian Open is from Europe: just the right time zones
— Christopher Clarey 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 (@christophclarey) January 19, 2023
Kokkinakis was clearly upset by the loss but a rowdy crowd who stayed showed the Aussie plenty of respect.
He took to Twitter soon after writing: “This f**king sport man.”
One of the commentators said: “They’ll both take away something so much more valuable than rankings points or prizemoney and that’s respect.
“Respect is always earned and never given and they have earned it from every single corner, not only of this stadium, but of the globe as well.”
Murray appeared just as stunned by what he had achieved as the rest of the world.
“Unbelievable that I managed to turn that around,” Murray said. “Thanasi was serving unbelievably well, hitting his forehand huge and I don’t know how I managed to get through it. I did start playing better as the match went on and ... I have a big heart.”
