Andy Murray proves former world No.1 wrong with sensational win
Andy Murray has received an apology from former No.1, and three-time Australian Open champion, Mats Wilander after his monumental victory over Matteo Berrettini in Melbourne.
Wilander is a tennis expert for the Australian Open, which is live and exclusive on discovery+ and Eurosport, and admitted that Murray had proven him wrong.
“A couple of years ago Andy, you played at the French Open and I was questioning you taking a wildcard. You went out and played against Stan Wawrinka on the Philippe-Chatrier, you didn’t look motivated and I thought maybe you shouldn’t have taken that wildcard.”
He added, “You then later told me that you were going to take every wildcard because ‘I am wanting to get back’. Today, you’ve proved me wrong in a way because to see you fight like that, to see your problem-solving skills and to get rewarded for all the hard work makes it all worthwhile to stay in this job.”
“We’ve missed you playing at the top of your game and you’re back in every way, so well done and I can’t wait to see your projection into the tournament now you’ve beaten one of the best players in the world.”
The Brit was two sets to the good up over his Italian opponent, but was pegged back and taken to a decider in which he saved a match point, before winning an incredible match tie-break to pick up his first top 20 Grand Slam win since 2017.
The three-time Grand Slam champion took to Twitter to thank everyone for their support, after a gruelling five hours on court. Murray did admit that he would be feeling the pain the next day, which is unsurprising considering the 35-year-old has a metal hip.
Thanks to everyone for all the kind messages. We left it all out there. Hope you enjoyed the show. ❤️
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) January 17, 2023
Murray has had a few close matches at Grand Slams in recent memory that have not gone his way, and he believes the work that he has been doing in the off-season has made all the difference in getting the win over Berrettini.
“I really have put a lot of effort in the last three months and been playing well in practice, but over the last couple of years I’ve lost a few of these matches in the Slams, Tsitsipas at US Open and a tight one with Isner at Wimbledon and this one could have got away from me. But I think the work I’ve put in the last few months has really made a difference.”
The five-time Australian Open finalist will now turn his attention to home favourite Thanasi Kokkinakis, who he beat in their only previous meeting at the Davis Cup in 2015, on the way to winning the title with Great Britain.
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