Aus Open: Murray holds off Matteo Berrettini in five-set thriller

Two-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray edged 13th seed Matteo Berrettini of Italy in an instant classic decided by a fifth-set tie-break 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7(7), 7-6(10-5) to advance to the second round of the Australian Open on Tuesday. The win was Murray’s first Top-20 victory at a Grand Slam in more than four years, which required four hours and 49 minutes to secure the statement result in Rod Laver Arena. He will next face either another Italian Fabio Fognini or the home favourite Thanasi Kokkinakis. Moreover, the five-time runner-up in Melbourne, became the fifth man in the Open Era to reach the 50-wins mark at the season’s first major. Murray is through to the Australian Open second round for the second consecutive year and 12th time overall. He is a five-time finalist at the event, with all five of those runs coming from 2010-16. Berrettini had not lost in the first round of a major since the 2019 Australian Open. Prior to this fortnight, he had reached the quarterfinals or better in each of his past five Grand Slam appearances, including a run to the Wimbledon final in 2021. Novak Djokovic moved into the second round with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 win over Spain’s Roberto Carballés Baena in just over two hours on Rod Laver Arena. The No 2 seed and world No 3, Casper Ruud of Norway, advances to the second round in four sets against Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic. Aryna Sabalenka extended her stellar season start, beating Tereza Martincova, while Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia stormed past Katherine Sebov of Canada to reach the women’s singles second round of the Australian Open on Tuesday. In other action at the Margaret Court Arena, former World No.1 Karolina Pliskova from the Czech Republic breezed through a 6-1, 6-3 win over China’s Wang Xiyu. It was Pliskova’s first main-draw win of 2023, and her 23rd main-draw win at the Australian Open in her career. She last lost in the first round at Melbourne Park in her 2013 debut.