Andy Murray’s run at the 2023 Australian Open ended after a third-round defeat to Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut on Saturday.
The Spaniard defeated the former world no.1 in four sets by 6-1, 6-7 (7-9), 6-3, 6-4 after three hours and 29 minutes at the Margaret Court Arena.
Murray was unable to respond to Agut’s questions as he recorded 54 unforced errors, five double faults and only won 25 of his 41 net points.
Only one of the first 15 points was won by the 35-year-old, and Bautista Agut easily won the first set in 29 minutes.
Murray lost a break early in the second set, but he remarkably came back to win it in a tie-breaker with the support of a sizable Scottish audience.
The five-time Australian Open finalist looked knackered as he racked up about 10 hours and 34 minutes on his way to the third round (five hours in each of his last two games).
👏👏👏 @andy_murray.
An Inspirational run.#AusOpen • #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/zmoOB7rOpV
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 21, 2023
After the game, Murray said: “I feel like I gave everything that I had to this event so I’m proud of that.
“That is really, in whatever you’re doing, all you can do. You can’t always control the outcome. You can’t control how well you’re going to play or the result. You can control the effort that you put into it, and I gave everything that I had the last three matches.”
