With love, from Sir Andy, the Australian Open first-round winner
Andy Murray wins a thriller of a match on the Rod Laver Arena against Matteo Berrettini in the first round of the 2023 Australian Open.
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Andy Murray
To Sir With Love. Well, one is not talking about the iconic movie featuring the Late Sidney Poitier in one of his classic roles in a British movie produced in 1967 which deals with society and racial slurs. This Sir is about Andy Murray, knighted by Britain a few years ago who played like a knight in shining armor at the red-hot Rod Laver arena in Melbourne on Tuesday.
Geez, it was not hot, it was a veritable cauldron. And the tennis was at boiling point, in all ways, as good old Murray, 35, turned the clock back with an adrenaline-felted performance against Italian Matteo Berrettini. The Briton won the five-setter which lasted almost five hours, with a mixture of patience, poise, and positivity.
For a man who plays Grand Slams out of sheer passion, Andy was the underdog. His best days are behind, so to say. Well, Tuesday was a pressure cooker situation of sorts. Berrettini had everything going for him, the bazooka serve and silken backhand catching the eye.
One thought, the longer the match went, the harder it would get for the older player. It turned out to be the contrary. Andy Murray ran like a hare, chased tennis balls like a police-trained canine retriever, and then showed he had the big game for the fifth set.
Andy Murray achieves landmark Australian Open win after beating Matteo Berrettini
These days, there is no long fifth set like before. Whoever gets to 10 points first with a difference of two points wins. Andy showed that he was ready to blast the hell out of his opponent. Both the players were enervated with tongue kind of lolling out. Perhaps, wanting to jump into the ice bath at the first opportunity.
On a day when the heat rule was pressed into service pretty early, how players dealt with the conditions was the key. Players who come from cold Europe, where it’s snowing now, are well aware Melbourne’s heat is melting. It’s mostly dry, can choke you, and unless you are well-hydrated and ready for the long hours on the court, life is miserable.
Then again, as the match gets longer, the mental games begin. Sir Andy showed that he is wily, still, and can teach the younger opponents a few things in battling adversity of all sorts in matches like these. His play was punchy and he punctuated his game with the right pauses and then acceleration.
Andy was the master of mind games today at the Australian Open. He did not let fans get a glimpse of the idea he is the same guy who is playing with a partial hip replacement. His body language, twists and turn of the trunk, racket head acceleration, and flow was music. It was like straight from Sir, with love.
Sadly, the Italian, who may have been wondering if he was on a tennis court or giant oven ready to bake pizzas was left flustered. Berrettini‘s game was power packed. But for sheer variety from the Briton and the spirit of fighting against the odds, this match showed why first-round thrillers at the Grand Slams catch the eye.
“I’ll be feeling this, this evening and tomorrow but right now I’m just unbelievably happy and very proud of myself. I’ve put a lot of work into the last three months with my team, to give me the opportunity to perform in stadiums like this and matches like this and it paid off tonight,” said Murray later.
For someone who has won three Grand Slam, titles, this was his first assault in the 10-point tie-breaker. “That’s the first time I’ve ever played one of those 10-point tie-breakers and it’s a bit different. He came back really strong and I was a bit lucky at the end with the net-cord,” added Andy Murray.
This was Andy’s 50th Australian Open match-win. He became only the fifth man in the Open era to get to the mark. Stefan Edberg, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic had done that before in Melbourne. “I think some of the tennis at the end was really good, it felt like that playing,” Murray added.
Modest, Murray? You could say that, as this Briton does not get too emotional too often.
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