January 18, (THEWILL) – Andy Murray advanced to the second round of the Australian Open by defeating Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-1 3-6 6-4 6-7(5) 6-4.
Murray won a spectacular five-setter at the Melbourne Slam, playing for the first time since 2019 to defeat the hard-hitting Georgian. The Brit will now face Taro Daniel of Japan in the second round.
In the second game of the first set, Basilashvili framed a serve into the crowd, which seemed to rattle the Georgian. Murray won six straight games in the 23-minute set, with Basilashvili making 18 unforced errors.
In the second set, the No. 21 seed was significantly better and less prone to errors. Murray’s serve failed him, and Basilashvili took advantage by converting three break opportunities to win in 42 minutes.
In a tense third set that lasted 58 minutes, the momentum changed drastically. Basilashvili came back from a break down to tie the match at 3-3 before Murray broke the Georgian’s service for the second time.
Basilashvili saved three set points at 5-4 down to force Murray to serve out the set, which he achieved with Basilashvili hitting a wayward backhand wide.
Murray appeared to falter in the fourth set, falling behind 4-2, but the Scot broke back immediately, and the two battled it out to a tie-break. The Georgian stormed to a 5-1 lead in the tie-break and forced the tiebreaker on his fourth set point.
Murray, on the other hand, would not give up and raced to a 3-0 lead in the decider with Basilashvili faltering. But, with Murray leading 4-2, Basilashvili broke back to come back on serve after a 30-shot rally.
Murray broke through with three match points on the Basilashvili serve at 5-4 up, with both players looking tired. Two of them were saved by Basilashvili, but Murray converted the third to complete a classic on John Cain Arena.
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.
