Thanasi Kokkinakis was evidently devastated and heartbroken after losing a thriller to Andy Murray at the Australian Open. In a match that finished at 4:05 am local Melbourne time, Kokkinakis lost an absolutely epic match in front of his home fans as Murray edged out the Australian 4-6 6-7 (4) 7-6 (5) 6-3 7-5.
Kokkinakis had 102 winners and 37 aces but still it wasn’t enough for him to beat Murray. The match lasted five hours and 45 minutes. “This f—— sport man (sad emoji),” Kokkinakis tweeted after the match.
This fucking sport man…..ð — Thanasi Kokkinakis (@TKokkinakis) January 19, 2023
Murray created a big comeback to beat Kokkinakis
In the third set, Kokkinakis was twice up by a break and he had a chance to serve out for the match in the ninth game of the set.
But Murray twice recovered from a break down to force a third-set tie-break, in which he converted his first set point to send the match into a fourth set. In the fourth set, Murray broke Kokkinakis in the sixth game for a 4-2 lead and then held on to his serve the rest of the set to force a decider.
Also, it should be noted that Kokkinakis had break points in three different games in the fourth set but Murray saved all six break points he faced in the set. In the fifth set, Murray earned the first break of the set in the 11th game for a 6-5 lead before serving out for the match in the following game.
“It was unbelievable I managed to turn that around. Thanasi was serving unbelievably and hitting his forehand huge. I don’t know how I managed to get through it. I did start playing better as the match went on, but yeah, I have a big heart.
I now am outright the most wins coming from two-sets-to-love down, so I have done it before. I have experience of it. I just rely on that experience and drive. That fight and love for the game and competing and my respect for this event and the competition and that is why I kept going,” Murray said after beating Kokkinakis, per the ATP website.
