January 21, (THEWILL) –Â Andy Murray, the British tennis player, was defeated by Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round of the Australian Open.
The match was played on Margaret Court Arena and ended 1-6, 7-6 (7), 3-6, 4-6. Murray had already come through two five-set marathons in the previous rounds, and although he lost the first set comprehensively, he fought back to level the match after a second-set tie-break.
However, Bautista Agut secured the decisive break in the eighth game of the third set and opened up a 2-1 lead. Murray broke early in the fourth set, but Bautista Agut broke back immediately and secured the decisive break in the ninth game before serving it out. Murray had put in a great deal of effort in the beginning of the year, but despite his best efforts, he was unable to secure a deep run in the tournament.
In his post-match press conference, Murray said, “I gave everything I had the last three matches so I’m very proud of that. But I’m also disappointed because I’ve put loads of work into the beginning of this year and was playing well enough to have a really good run, a deep run.”
Bautista Agut will now face Tommy Paul in the last-16 stage. The defeat means that Novak Djokovic is the only major winner left in the draw, following the elimination of Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
