ANDY MURRAY ROLLED back the years with an epic five-set win over Matteo Berrettini in the opening round of the Australian Open.
Bidding to beat a top 20 player at a grand slam for the first time since his hip problems began in 2017, Murray won the opening two sets before Berrettini fought back to level in a dramatic fourth-set tie-break.
The Italian 13th seed created a match point in the 10th game of the deciding set but dumped a simple backhand into the net with the court wide open and Murray held on to force a deciding tie-break.
A gruelling first point won by the Scot set the tone and Murray, who moved superbly, was able to celebrate a stunning 6-3 6-3 4-6 6-7 (7) 7-6 (6) victory after four hours and 49 minutes.
While such matches would have usually been contested in later rounds in his heyday, this will surely mean almost as much four years after the tearful press conference at Melbourne Park that seemed to herald the end of his career.
Earlier, Dan Evans overcame the heat and Argentinian Facundo Bagnis to battle into the second round of the Australian Open.
The British number two, who struggled with illness in the build-up to the tournament, was scheduled first up on what could be the hottest day of the fortnight.
He toiled for nearly three hours to open up a two-sets-to-one lead before the threshold was met for a suspension of play that lasted three hours.
On the resumption, Evans ensured he was not out on court for longer than was necessary, breaking serve in the seventh game for a 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-4 victory.
The temperature was already above 30 degrees when play began, with Evans looking to repeat the result from the first round in 2017, when he defeated Bagnis in straight sets before making it to the fourth round.
The 32-year-old Argentinian is ranked 91st and has never won a main-draw match in Melbourne so on paper this was a kind draw but Evans made a poor start, dropping serve in his opening game.
He fought back well with a run of four games in a row but Bagnis was proving a dogged competitor and, although Evans recovered from 1-4 in the second set, a volley dumped into the tramlines allowed the Argentinian to level.
It was nip and tuck in the third before Evans gained the advantage with a break for 4-3, and he took the set before organisers announced the heat stress scale had hit five, the mark where continuing play outside is deemed dangerous.
Play finally resumed at 5pm, and Evans sealed the win after three hours and 29 minutes to set up a second-round clash with veteran Frenchman Jeremy Chardy.
Meanwhile, Caroline Garcia and Andrey Rublev swept into the Australian Open second round ahead of Novak Djokovic making his eagerly anticipated return to the season-opening Grand Slam.
Women’s fourth seed Garcia and men’s fifth seed Rublev both banked straight-sets wins before play was halted on outside courts and the roofs were closed on the main stadiums due to extreme heat.
Their victories came on a day when Tennis Australia banned Russian and Belarusian flags after a complaint from the Ukrainian ambassador to Australia.
Since the invasion of Ukraine, Russian and Belarusian players have normally competed under a neutral flag as independents, as is the case at the Australian Open.
Russia’s Rublev ended the tournament of 2020 finalist Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in 36 Celsius (96.8 Fahrenheit) temperatures.
Rublev held a clear advantage in terms of current ranking, but Thiem had a far greater Grand Slam pedigree as the US Open champion in 2020. He is also a two-time finalist at Roland Garros.
But the Austrian, ranked 98, was outplayed as he continued his return from a wrist injury which kept him off court for nine months across the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
Garcia took just 65 minutes to overwhelm Canadian qualifier Katherine Sebov 6-3, 6-0 and cement her status as a contender for the first Grand Slam of the year.
Fifth seed Aryna Sabalenka also breezed through, beating the Czech Republic’s Tereza Martincova 6-1, 6-4.
Women’s 26th seed Elise Mertens was another winner, with the Belgian outlasting Spain’s Garbine Muguruza, who was seen cramping before losing 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-1.
With reporting by – © AFP 2023
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