Five-time finalist Andy Murray made it to the third round of the Australian Open tennis after a great fight and turnaround. After five hours and 45 minutes, he managed 4:6, 6:7, 7:6, 6:3 and 7:5 with Thanas, who is nine years younger by Kokkinakis.
For the 35-year-old Murray, who already spent five hours on the court in the first round, it was the longest match of his career. The duel was eight minutes short of the Australian Open record set by Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in 2012.
The former Wimbledon and US Open champion has already won eleven matches at Grand Slams in which he lost the opening two sets, which no one has done so far.
The match in Melbourne ended just after four o’clock in the morning, but it was not the latest end of a match at the Australian Open.
In 2008, home favorite Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis played to 4:34.
“It’s great that I won. But I’d also like to get some sleep. I don’t know who’s going to benefit from this,” Murray said.
“Instead of it being an epic battle between Murray and Kokkinakis, the ending was a bit of a farce,” he said of the near-morning finish.
The next opponent of the three-time Grand Slam winner Murray, who is trying to return to his former form after protracted problems with his hip, will be the Spaniard Roberto Bautista. He was eliminated in the first round with him at the Australian Open in 2019.
