Australian Open: Andy Murray digs deep to stun Brittini in a final-set tiebreak | Britain’s Andy Murray

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For nearly four hours under the bright lights of Rod Laver Arena, Andy Murray weaved together an exhilarating, vintage performance that brought him close to his best score in the past five years of his career. First, he built an emphatic two-set lead over Matteo Berrettini, then in a tie-breaker held Murray within two points of the win.

Even as it seemed like everything was starting to slip, as Berrettini took Murray back in the fifth set and stood closer to victory, at no point did Murray let his intensity wane. He fought with everything he had to the death and at the end of a great, exciting, high-quality match, Murray ended his best performance in half a decade with a classic victory.

After four hours and 49 minutes on the court and saving one match point, Murray rallied to defeat Berrettini, the 13th seed and last year’s semi-finalist, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7(7), 7-6. (10-6) to reach the second round of the Australian Open.

Despite a brutal draw against one of the most successful Grand Slam players of the younger generation, Murray was unfazed at the prospect of facing Brittini. Prior to the match, he had vouched for how well his preparations had worked and firmly believed he was getting into shape.

Murray immediately backed up his confidence. Throughout the opening set of 43 minutes, under the roof of Rod Laver Arena due to the heat, he flew around the court. Murray broke Berrettini’s serve at the first opportunity, and pulled away from the Italian’s bombs with ease. In his service games, Murray performed well under pressure and hit his forehand as hard as he did for a long time, taking advantage of Berettini’s backhand and less movement. Serve the group with an ace.

The attack continued in the second group. Murray broke serve in the opening game with a backhand angled winner after jumping across the court. Even when Perrettini began to impose himself, Murray always had an answer. He found big serves first on key points, weaving in with his typically delicate touch and setting up two sets to love the lead.

Andy Murray stretches to play a forehand at Melbourne Park. Photo: Cliff Brunskill/Getty Images

Although he was far from his best, Berrettini never left without making life uncomfortable for Murray. He finally made his way into the match in the third set. He started serving incredibly well, connecting on his forehand and showing off his precise touches around the net. Berrettini broke serve early and held on, pulling back one setback.

Throughout the fourth set duel, both of them played with a high level and intensity. They played freely, attacked tennis on their serve and never gave anything away. A ballistic tie-break full of breathless points, several aces from Berrettini and a powerful shot from Murray converged at 6-6 that just sailed long. But Brittini remained firm and straightened things out with two sets.

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Berrettini wrestled for control of the match. He was a fortress on his serve and tasked Murray with keeping up. His chance came at 4-5 when he earned a match point on Murray’s serve – he was stranded in the net with an easy backhand in the middle of the court, only to comically throw the ball into the bottom of the net. Murray rode his luck, holding his serve and stealing momentum.

For most of the past 14 months, when Murray finally began competing regularly after countless injuries related to his metal hip, he was convinced it was only a matter of time before he would run deep in the big leagues again.

But too often the steps forward were accompanied by disappointments, and there were periods when others in his position questioned their future. But few players have persevered like Murray and upon his return to Rod Laver Arena after five years, he reaped the rewards of his legendary strength.

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