(Football news) The five-time finalist famously survived two grueling five-setters to advance to the third round last year, but Murray was defeated 4-6 2-6 2-6 this time around, so there would be no thrilling comeback from him.
Throughout the match, Murray only won a third of the points due to his second serve against world number 30 Etcheverry, who hit 11 aces past the 36-year-old. He also only landed 52% of his first serves.
Murray dropped the first game of the match and immediately broke back, but he was unable to recover from a second error in the first set and was broken at the fourth attempt in the second.
The three-time champion found it difficult to get open on the Etcheverry serve, losing four of his five breakpoints. Murray also managed to save one match point, but he was unable to produce another incredible comeback at Etcheverry, moving on to play Gael Monfils in the second round.
Murray acknowledged in his post-match press conference that he might have played for Australian Open glory for the last time after losing in the first round of the Melbourne Open for just the fourth time.
“I won’t win many matches playing that way. It’s a definite possibility that will be the last time I play here,” Murray said. “I was disappointed with the way I played and all of that stuff. It was a tough, tough way to finish.”
The two-time Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka lost to French 16th seed Caroline Garcia 4-6 6-7[2] in an hour and twenty-six minutes, meaning Murray wasn’t the only major winner to fall at the first hurdle.
Despite serving up an astounding 11 aces, Osaka, the former world number one, was unable to generate a single break point against a tenacious Garcia. This was her first Grand Slam appearance since the US Open in 2022. She missed the entire 2023 season due to pregnancy.
Day two saw several further upsets: Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated lucky loser Zizou Bergs 5-7 6-1 6-1 6-3, while French qualifier Terenc Atmane, who had won the opening set, retired due to injury. Daniil Medvedev also made it to the next round.
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