Australian Open: Has Andy Murray Made His Final Appearance Down Under?

Andy Murray, Australian Open
Andy Murray (photo: Tennis Australia)

MELBOURNE/WASHINGTON, January 15, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)

As five-time Australian Open finalist Andy Murray walked off the court at Kia Arena disappointedly, after mustering just eight games in his 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 loss to No. 30 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry on Monday, one had to wonder if it would be the last time Melbourne fans would see the 36-year-old Scotsman.

Compared to a year ago, when Murray – metal hip and all – toiled for nearly five hours and defeated Matteo Berrettini in a fifth-set tie-break and followed it with another five-set thrilling triumph over Thanasi Kokkinakis that ended at 4:05 a.m., this time his performance lacked the spark he showed here in 2023. It was flat and listless.

The three-time major champion and a winner of 46 titles overall, including a pair of Olympic singles gold medals, Murray was very candid when he said this could be his final appearance at Melbourne Park.

“It’s a definite possibility that will be the last time I play here,” the 44th-ranked Murray, who has lost two straight matches to the Argentine Etcheverry, said in his post-match news conference. “Whilst you’re playing the match, you’re obviously trying to control your emotions, focus on the points and everything. When you’re one point away from the end, you’re like, I can’t believe this is over so quickly, and like this. In comparison to the matches that I played here last year, it’s the complete opposite feeling walking off the court. Yeah, wish I involved the crowd more. Just disappointed with the way I played … a tough, tough way to finish. …

“I have an idea of when I would probably like to finish playing. So much of that depends on how you’re playing. The time frame for that narrows when you play and have results like today.”

During his two-hour, 23-minute loss, Murray won only 33 percent of his second-serve points, made 37 unforced errors, was broken six times and outpointed 95-67. By contrast, Etcheverry hit 38 winners, including 11 aces.

“It was really just a flat performance,” Murray said, “I don’t know exactly why that was the case because I’ve been feeling good going in. Played pretty well in Brisbane. Practiced really well the last 10 days or so …

“Today the crowd all showed up again and gave me brilliant support. I didn’t give enough. I felt like I didn’t give enough back and I’m disappointed with that because they have helped me a lot over the years in matches here.”

According to Murray, he has discussed with his family and his team about the timing of his future retirement.

“I’ve spoken to them about it. I’ve spoken to my family about it. I’ve spoken to my team about it,” he said. “They’re very aware of how I feel about things, where I would like to finish playing, when that would be.

“I haven’t made any definite decisions on that. It’s obviously something that I need to think about and see exactly when that is.”

Sweet Caroline: Garcia spoils Osaka’s return to Grand Slam stage

No. 16 seed Caroline Garcia of France put on a remarkable serving performance that proved to be the difference in her 6-4, 7-6 (2) victory over two-time Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka. The Japanese superstar was making her return to the Grand Slam stage after giving birth to a daughter last July, but it was Garcia who spoiled her return.

The former World No. 4 Garcia, who won the 2022 WTA Finals title, struck 34 winners, including 13 aces, won 89 percent of her first-serve points — dropping just four points —  faced no break points and outpointed Osaka 73-63. Osaka countered with 11 aces and 20 winners but also made 25 unforced errors.

Despite the loss, her second in three matches since returning to the WTA Tour earlier this month in Brisbane after being gone from tennis for 15 months, Osaka was upbeat during her news conference. “I thought it was a really good match. For me, I felt like I did the best that I could possibly do,” she said. “It was just really nice to be on Rod Laver again, hear the audience, how much they interacted with the match. That was fun.”

Meanwhile, Garcia was in a celebratory mood after winning the one-hour and 26-minute first-round match on her first match point. “I feel definitely happy,” she said. “It was a great atmosphere out there. Kind of my first late-night session. It definitely feels different. Playing Naomi in these courts, it’s always very special.

“Yeah, it will be a match I will remember. That’s also why I play tennis. …

“You never know what can happen when you step on court. You always try to be as prepared as you can, just tell yourself you have to, yeah, you have to have confidence in myself. I know I was prepared. I did good practice. I did some good tournaments. I just had to go out there, try to be as calm as possible, play my game.”

Garcia will face Magdalena Frech of Poland in the second round. The No. 72 Frech defeated 195th-ranked Australian wild card Daria Saville, 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-5, in three hours, 13 minutes.

Aussie, Aussie, Oy, Oy! 

On Monday, when Alexei Popyrin faced Marc Polmans and Aleksandar Vukic took on Jordan Thompson, it marked the first all-Australian men’s singles matches at the Australian Open since Bernard Tomic beat John Millman, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-2, in the 2016 Happy Slam.

According to the ITF, 2017-2023 is the second longest stretch without an all-Australian men’s match in tournament history. From the first edition of the Australian Open in the Open Era in 1969 until 1991, there was at least one match involving two Australian men every year.

Popyrin handled Polmans, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-2 to advance while Thompson went the distance and needed slightly over four hours to beat Vukic, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 on a packed Show Court 3.

“It’s never easy playing a fellow Aussie, a friend,” Popyrin said afterward in his news conference. “I was happy I managed to get through in straight sets.”

Thompson added: “Yeah, it’s never easy playing another Aussie, Show Court 3, packed house. Yeah, it’s loud, it can get rowdy, but all in all, it was pretty good. Just happy to scrape through.”

Burning the midnight oil in Melbourne

Ben Shelton and Andre Agassi: The apprentice met the master

Around Melbourne Park

Among the men’s seeds advancing on a busy Monday were: No. 3 Daniil Medvedev, No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas, No. 9 Hubert Hurkacz, No. 10 Alex de Minaur, No. 15 Karen Khachanov, No. 16 Ben Shelton, No. 20 Adrian Mannarino, No. 23 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, No. 24 Jan-Lennard Struff, No. 25 Lorenzo Musetti, No. 27 Felix Auger-Aliassime and No. 29 Sebastian Korda. The only seed to lose was No. 18 Nicolas Jarry, who lost a five-setter against Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli.

On the women’s side, only seven of 14 seeds advanced: No. 4 Coco Gauff,  No. 6 Ons Jabeur, No. 10 Beatriz Haddad Maia, No. 16 Caroline Garcia, No. 19 Elina Svitolina, No. 25 Elise Mertens and No. 26 Jasmine Paolini. Ousted were: No. 7 Marketa Vondrousova, No. 15 Veronika Kudermetova, No. 17 Ekaterina Alexandrova, No. 21 Donna Vekic, No. 23 Anastasia Potapova, No. 24 Anhelina Kalinina and No. 31 Marie Bouzkova.

Day Two of the Australian Open drew 81,472 spectators to Melbourne Park, a First Monday attendance record. It surpassed the previous record of 77,944 set in 2023. The day session was attended by 51,293 fans and 30,179 were on hand for the night session. Both day and night sessions broke previous records established last year (49,274 day, 28,670 night).

Monday’s Australian Open results

Tuesday’s Australian Open order of play

By the numbers

According to Matt Roberts of The Tennis Podcast, when Iga Swiatek faces 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin on Rod Laver Arena Tuesday, it will mark just the fourth time since 2000 that two women have met in a Grand Slam final and then in the first round of another Grand Slam. Swiatek beat Kenin in the 2020 Roland Garros final. She leads their head-to-head 2-0.

“Quotable…”

“You know I’m an open book, you know, always. Have been with you guys, and whatever you question, I answer honestly. I’m excited that I had my own thing, you know, my own documentary, that I was able to speak freely and speak about everything.

“I appreciate the team that I have worked with. They are very, very professional. They didn’t want to push me to do anything, that it was against, you know, myself or what I believe it in.

“So, they let me be natural. They showed me, you know, on and off the court, but mostly off the court. I was happy to share my thoughts. I was happy to let people know what I was thinking.”

— No. 6 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, during her post-match news conference following her 6-3, 6-1 win over 150th-ranked Ukrainian qualifier Yulia Starodubtseva, in discussing her new documentary “This Is Me.”

 

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