By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, January 21, 2023

 

Roberto Bautista Agut ended Andy Murray's inspired run 6-1, 6-7(7), 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the Australian Open fourth round for the fifth time.

Photo credit: Will Murray/Getty

Marathon men Andy Murray and Roberto Bautista Agut raced all over Margaret Court Arena.

In the end, Bautista Agut ended Murray's inspired AO run and extended his own.

More: AO Day 6 Wrap

The No. 24-seeded Spaniard stopped Murray 6-1, 6-7(7), 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the Australian Open fourth round for the fifth time.



It is Bautista Agut's fourth consecutive victory over the former world No. 1. Bautista had the added challenge of playing a pumped-up Murray and a fired-up pro-Murray Melbourne crowd, an experience he called "horrifying" when reflecting on their 2019 AO meeting. 

"He understands the game very well, and he knows how to play with a crowd, how to play with the nerves of the opponent," Bautista Agut said of Murray. "Well, today was a tough match. I think I did a great job. I could play very good tennis. It was not easy after losing the second set to come back, but I'm very happy I could close the match in the fourth set."

Bautista Agut will face American Tommy Paul for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Earlier on Saturday, Paul swept compatriot Jenson Brooksby 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 saving all four break points he faced in a two hour, eight-minute victory.

The 35-year-old Murray poured every piece of himself into his 11th comeback from a two-sets to one deficit defeating Australian Open doubles champion Thanasi Kokkinakis in a five-hour, 45-minute epic that was the longest match of Murray's career. That marathon match ended after 4 a.m. Melbourne time.

Five-time AO finalist Murray took treatment for foot blisters he suffered vs. Kokkinakis and stayed in step with Bautista Agut for much of the match tonight. Bautista Agut broke in Murray's final service game of the third and fourth sets.



Afterward, Murray said he invested all he had in this inspired run.

"I feel like I gave everything that I had to this event. So I'm proud of that," Murray said. "That is really, in whatever you're doing, all you can do. You can't always control the outcome. You can't control how well you're going to play or the result. You can control the effort that you put into it, and I gave everything that I had the last three matches. I'm very proud of that.

"But, yeah, I'm also disappointed because I put loads of work into the beginning of this year and was playing well enough to have a really good run, have a deep run. I think even tonight I'm competing against a guy 20 in the world, you know, and it's still very tight considering the circumstances. I feel like, yeah, I'm disappointed because I feel like I could have gone quite a bit further."

Two-time Olympic gold-medal champion Murray's comeback conquest of Kokkinakis was his 11th successful comeback from a two-set deficit giving him sole ownership of the all-time record from two-sets down.

Resilience was clear on both sides of the court.

The 34-year-old Bautista Agut crafted his own comeback from two sets down fighting off American qualifier Brandon Holt in round two. Tonight, Bautista Agut hit one more winner than Murray (50 to 49), but played cleaner tennis on pivotal points. Murray committed 54 unforced errors, 25 more than Bautista Agut as he tried to press the issue.

In the 2019 Australian Open first round, Bautista Agut out-dueled Murray 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-2 in an emotional win that many felt may have been Murray's last AO match as he battled a hip injury and later underwent hip resurfacing surgery.

Four years later, Bautista Agut repeated the feat in an emotional victory.

Five-time AO finalist Murray says he has more to give.

"I think obviously you never know exactly when the end is going to be," Murray said. "I would like to go out playing tennis like this, where I'm competing with the best players in the world in the biggest events and doing myself justice.

"There were maybe times the last year or so where I didn't really feel like I was playing well, and I didn't enjoy the way that I was playing. Yeah, those sacrifices and that effort that I put in allowed me to get through those matches and play at a high level that I think was entertaining for the people watching."