Andy Murray has impressed with another five-set win after a gruelling Australian Open match lasting nearly six hours.
It was a battle for victory continuing until 4.05am in Melbourne before the Scottish player could force a deciding set and finally prevailed against Australian Thanasi Thanasi Kokkinakis 4-6 6-7 (4) 7-6 (5) 6-3 7-5.
The match was the longest of Murray's whole career and is even the third latest finish to a tennis match ever.
Kokkinakis served for victory at 5-3 in the third set of their second-round encounter on a rowdy, partisan Margaret Court Arena only for Murray to show once again that his greatest asset is a stubborn refusal to lose.
Murray's success followed another five-set battle for nearly five hours to upset Matteo Berrettini on Tuesday in his best result since 2017.
Both men were unhappy to be given time violations by umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore, while Kokkinakis, who racked up 102 winners, also received a warning for smashing his racket after a ridiculous point in the third set where Murray retrieved three smashes.
A sizeable number of fans stuck it out to the bitter end but Murray railed to Asderaki-Moore about the lateness of the hour, branding it “disrespectful”, and the increasing number of post-midnight finishes will surely focus attention on tennis’ scheduling.
Having spent more than 10 hours on court, Murray must now somehow try to recover for a third-round clash with Roberto Bautista Agut, the player he lost to in 2019 when it appeared his career was over.
