Australia Open: In his first two matches at the Australian Open, Andy Murray has already logged more than ten and a half hours on the court, but the Brit is ready for another challenging challenge against Roberto Bautista Agut on Saturday.
In a match that began on Thursday night and went into the following day, Murray overcame a deficit of two sets and a break to beat Thanasi Kokkinakis 4-6 6-7 7-6 6-3 7-5. The epic match was the longest of the 35-year-illustrious old’s career.
The historic battle between Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis in 2008, which ended at 4.34 am, was the longest tennis match ever played, lasting five hours and 45 minutes. The match ended at 4.05 am, which was the third latest completion time for a tennis match ever.
Following his opening round five-set thriller against Matteo Berrettini, Murray returned to the practice court for a brief period of time later on Friday to get ready for his upcoming match. It is unclear, though, how physically fit he will be at this point, having already played 10 sets of tennis.
The first time Murray and Bautista Agut played at a Grand Slam since the emotional first-round match in 2019 when Murray revealed the extent of his hip issues and expressed his fears that his career may be over, is in the third round. Bautista Agut is the 24th seed and the tennis equivalent of a brick wall.
I’m delighted for him that he’s in terrific health, that he’s winning nine matches, and that he’s enjoying the court again, said Bautista Agut, who also easily defeated Murray twice last year.
“He seems healthy. He can fight well. He enjoys playing tennis and is skilled at it.”
Officials of the competition defend the Australia Open schedule
Although tournament director Craig Tiley claims they are satisfied with the existing schedule, Murray called playing at such a late hour during his second round a “farce.”
There is no need to change the schedule at this time, according to Tiley. “It was a fantastic match, and you don’t expect it to last close to six hours when you plan a contest like that shortly before 10 in the evening.
“There is always one, and it is challenging to plan the entire event around the possibility that anything might happen only once. You have nothing for fans or broadcasters if you only play one match at night and someone gets hurt.”
Longer matches have resulted from changing game styles, slower surfaces and balls (a specific talking point here), and exceptionally high levels of fitness practically everywhere, yet timetables have not developed to cater for this.
Jamie Murray suggested having just one night match on Twitter, a strategy used by the French Open, which was afterwards criticised for not scheduling women’s matches in the time period.
“I guess going into one match they have their difficulties with value for money for the ticket-holders, but what’s more important, the players that are competing there or the price that they charge for a ticket,” Murray remarked on Friday.
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