Novak Djokovic taunts Andy Murray for winning his second-round match a little too soon comparing it to his 2012 Australian Open final
Novak Djokovic besides his prowess on court, is also known for his humor. He praised Andy Murray for his epic win against Thanasi Kokkinakis in his own canny style.
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Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray after playing their longest match in Australian Open
Andy Murray came from behind after losing the first two sets in his second-round match against Thanasi Kokkinakis at the Australian Open 2023 to win the epic five-set thriller. The scoreline may have read 4-6, 6(4)-7(7), 7(7)-6(5), 6-3, 7-5 in favor of the British legend, but he has to dig deep to carve out a victory for himself in this encounter.
The struggle between the two players went on for more than five hours and 45 minutes. The match finished at 4.05 AM. However, in the end, the former World No.1 emerged victorious.
Like many tennis fans, Novak Djokovic also hailed Andy Murray for this triumph on social media. However, just after two minutes, he startled everyone with an amusing note. He declared that Andy Murray and Thanasi Kokkinakis fell 8 minutes short of making this match the longest match in the history of the Australian Open.
The Serbian has the distinction of playing the longest final of the Australian Open, which went on for 5 hours and 53 minutes in 2012 against Rafael Nadal. He went on to win that match with a scoreline of 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5, and his career’s third Australian Open title.
“You just felt short of 8min. Sorry mate,” the 21-time Grand Slam champion wrote along with both a laughing face and a muscle emoji.
Novak Djokovic advanced into the third round after winning his second-round match against Enzo Couacaud with a scoreline of 6-1, 6-7, 6-2, 6-0. He will face Grigor Dimitrov in the third round of the tournament.
Andy Murray takes a dig at the scheduling of the matches
Both the matches that Andy Murray played in the Australian Open 2023 have ended late. He defeated both young players, Matteo Berrettini in the first-round match 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6(5)-7(9), 7(10)-6(6), and Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second round, respectively. Also, both matches went until the fifth and decisive set. This has given him very little time to recover from physical fatigue.
He was particularly angry with the organizers of the Australian Open for scheduling matches so late in the evening.
“Some people obviously need to work the following day and everything. If my child was a ball kid for a tournament and they’re coming home at five in the morning, as a parent, I’m snapping at that. 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.I don’t know who it’s beneficial for. It ends in a bit of a farce,” he said.
“We talk about it all the time, and it’s been spoken about for years. But when you start the night matches late and have conditions like that, these things are going to happen,” he continued.
However, he was merrily surprised to see tennis fans still at the stadium cheering him on in the early hours of the morning. He also thanked all the spectators.
“Amazingly, people stayed until the end, and I really appreciate them doing that and creating an atmosphere for us at the end,” he addded further.
Andy Murray will have to recover soon, as he will be taking on Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round of the Australian Open 2023.
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Abhar Indorkar
(451 Articles Published)