(Tennis news) Andy Murray’s form in Sydney looked like had come into contact with a time machine as he had the same look in the eye which was last seen 5 years ago. The former world number one has been playing great in the 2022 season. In the fourth round of the Sydney Tennis Classic, the 34 year old faced Nikoloz Basilashvili who attacked the ball on every occasion from all corners of the court.
Basilashvili is known to play aggressive and his average groundstrokes are timed around 70mph which Murray dealt quite well and kept slowing down the pace of the rally. The match went on for 3 hours as the world number 23 hit the ball well but Murray got to the ball and even had the time to position himself accordingly and place the shots. The delicate touches were his answers to Basilashvili’s unbelievable lightning hitting. Murray defeated Basilashvili 6-7(4-7), 7-6(3), 6-3.
“I got a lot of free points on my serve,” Murray said. “When we were in the rallies, it was more on his terms, so I tried to serve a little bit bigger and thankfully they went in. When he was serving, I tried to take time away from him and rush him and I hit some better returns.”
Daniel Evans continued his unbeaten run to the season by beating Pedro Martinez at Sydney. Evans has been on a 4 match winning streak starting from the ATP Cup and is so far on top at Australia. The British player did not give room for unforced errors as Martinez tried getting back at his backhand slice but could not do much. The Spaniard also could not bring in change by coming to the net as Evans outperformed him there too. Evans defeated Martinez 6-2, 6-3.
Last year’s Australian Open semifinalist, Aslan Karatsev used up all his energy on his way to beating Lorenzo Sonego in the quarterfinal match. The Russian needed 3 hours to knock out the rising star as the scores looked straight and square. Karatsev charged up the front of the court as his forehand put Sonego at a disadvantage but the 26 year old also played well under pressure. The Italian saved 20 of 25 breakpoints and even though he did not have as many breakpoints, it was enough to take the match till the deciding set. Karatsev defeated Sonego 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.
Also read: Andy Murray records first victory of the season at the Sydney Tennis Classic
