Australian Open

Nick Kyrgios now withdraws, bad news for the home fans

Nadal whupped Draper too.

Norrie won.
Dart and Edmund both lost.

Andy Murray faces a tough challenge against Matteo Berrettini on day two.

(16-01-2023 20:02 )Snooks Wrote:  Andy Murray faces a tough challenge against Matteo Berrettini on day two.

He scraped the win in a valiant final set tie-break, though having to do so after losing a two set lead might prove ominous for his chances to get a lot further. Poor bloke had to do a post-match interview whilst he was clearly bleeding below the knee. At least he had the decency to tidy up bottles and things, Berrettini just seemed to scarper.

Yep Murray was an absolute warrior all through imo. Some of the tennis both men played was exceptional. The crowd were treated to an outstanding match.
A really excellent win for the Scot.

How such a long match affects him in round 2 is the issue.

Coco Gauff had a 6-3. 7-6 victory over Emma Raducanu at the Australian Open.

It looked like Raducanu was carrying a side injury and wasn't able to put the power in her serve.

And Gauff was lucky as the finish was very nervy.

I honestly just don't know how Murray keeps on doing this, with that hip. Another epic match, 5 hours plus. It's not like Kokkinakis crumbled either, played well too.

4 hours 46 of pure playing time! A far cry from the playing surfaces elsewhere in sport shall we just say - no quit, no seeking a way out, just cliff edge effort and extreme physical drive and endurance - a credit to both!.

Hats off to Andy Murray. To come back from his long list of injuries (including a metal plate in his hip for god sake), well to him (like so many others who have pushed through) Kudos indeed!

As was referred to in comms (one of Simon Reeds worst BTW), maybe the timing of the match was wrong. Having said that, kokkinakis had the opportunity to take 2 hours plus off that time and failed to get it done. It is down to the players and whether they can cross the winning line early given the opportunity, or not. If not, than I can see no justification for complaining about such matches going on and on. Personally, I didn't - and don't - agree with the final set tie break. Survival of the fittest!! You can guarantee that the players do not accept a drop in prize money to take account of the fact they are now asked to push that little bit less than before (I stress little) Isner/Mahut it was not!

The ridiculous thing about it really is that because it's Andy Murray I'm not all that surprised.
He just has an in built never say die.
In so many ways it's completely bonkers after already winning a five setter in the first round as well.
If he was 9 sets down in a best of 19 set match I still wouldn't count him out . Knowing him he would probably win 9 tiebreaks in a row followed by a ten point breaker in the 19th set to win 10-9 after a gazillion hours play . It's just who and what he is.
The ultimate sporting warrior of no limit.
If you want true fortitude look no further than Sir Andy Murray.

A truly exceptional human doing ridiculously awesome things as a course of habit. Bonkers. Totally bonkers .

(19-01-2023 19:06 )Snooks Wrote:  The ridiculous thing about it really is that because it's Andy Murray I'm not all that surprised.
He just has an in built never say die.
In so many ways it's completely bonkers after already winning a five setter in the first round as well.
If he was 9 sets down in a best of 19 set match I still wouldn't count him out . Knowing him he would probably win 9 tiebreaks in a row followed by a ten point breaker in the 19th set to win 10-9 after a gazillion hours play . It's just who and what he is.
The ultimate sporting warrior of no limit.
If you want true fortitude look no further than Sir Andy Murray.

A truly exceptional human doing ridiculously awesome things as a course of habit. Bonkers. Totally bonkers .

He has company though........not least Rafa Nadal. Though Rafa hasn't (to my knowledge) had the surgery/metal plate inserted that A Murray has had, so again Kudos Andy!!