Murray built a huge lead, let it disappear completely, then needed to save a match point against Matteo Berrettini — who is nearly a full decade younger and ranked more than 50 places higher — before managing to pull out a 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (10-6) triumph in the Australian Open’s first round across more than 4 1/2 hours on Tuesday.
This was three-time major champion Murray’s first defeat of a top-20 opponent at a Grand Slam tournament since 2017. That was before Murray thought he would need to retire — and indeed was given a career send-off at Melbourne Park in 2019 when he exited in the first round a year after his first hip operation.
