- Murray battles back from two sets down in his longest match
- 4-6, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-3, 7-5 win finishes at 4am in Melbourne
As Thanasi Kokkinakis stepped up to the baseline with a two-set lead to serve out perhaps the best performance of his life, defeat would have come quickly for most other players across the net. But Andy Murray does not wallow in doubt when in trouble. He furiously scours for solutions, he fights with whatever he has and throughout his career, he has so often found a way.
From the brink of defeat, Murray somehow pulled off one of the greatest feats of his exceptional career, recovering from a two sets deficit against Kokkinakis in his second consecutive five-set match – with a metal hip – to win 4-6, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-3, 7-5 in a five hour 45 minute match that lasted until 4am. The victory marks Murray’s return to the third round of the Australian Open for the first time in five years.