Murray recovered from 4-6, 6-7(4), 2-5 down to register a stunning 4-6, 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 6-3, 7-5 victory over Kokkinakis in their second-round clash on Thursday, a match that finished at 4 am in Melbourne and lasted 5h 54 min, becoming the second longest match in Australian Open history.
With the 35-year-old recording a second consecutive five-set win that will be remembered for a long time, after a 4h 49m first-round win against 13th seed Matteo Berrettini, McEnroe was in awe of the Briton tennis great.
McEnroe opined that Murray makes tennis “shine” and that his attitude of never succumbing to the pressure and giving it his all on the court must be applauded.
The former world no. 1 also expressed his belief that Andy Murray’s greatness, which was further cemented after Thursday’s win, should be regarded a lot higher than it is despite the Big 3’s legacy.
While McEnroe has doubts over Murray’s ability to recover fully for his next match after two grueling battles, he hopes Murray defies the odds again, but more importantly, enjoys his momentous victory.
“One of the most insane things I’ve seen” - John McEnroe on the Andy Murray-Thanasi Kokkinakis Australian Open match
Looking ahead, John McEnroe reiterated that aspect of recovery that will now be Andy Murray’s biggest focus ahead of his third-round match against Roberto Bautista Agut. While he believes it will be a different mountain to climb for Murray, the 7-time Grand Slam singles champion hopes that Murray thoroughly revels in his achievement of winning “one of the most insane” matches ever and putting smiles on many faces.
McEnroe also felt that the match against Kokkinakis was Murray’s greatest ever grind on the court, despite his unfortunate fitness issues over the years, lauding him for the same.
Andy Murray recorded his 11th Grand Slam win from two-sets down, thus setting an Open Era record for most singles match wins after losing the opening two sets. The three-time Grand Slam champion broke ties with Roger Federer, Boris Becker, and Aaron Krickstein, all of whom recorded 10 such wins.
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