'I have a big heart,' says Andy Murray after Australian Open heroics

Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis served for victory at 5-3 in the third set of their second-round encounter on a rowdy, partisan Margaret Court Arena only for Murray to show once again that his greatest asset is a stubborn refusal to lose.

The 35-year-old, who had battled for nearly five hours to upset Matteo Berrettini on Tuesday in his best result since 2017, forced a deciding set and finally prevailed 4-6 6-7 (4) 7-6 (5) 6-3 7-5 at 4.05am.

At five hours and 45 minutes, it was the longest match of Murray’s whole career and the third latest finish to a tennis match ever.

It was a contest that had everything, not least the quality of the rallies, which somehow did not diminish as the clock ticked on.

Both men were unhappy to be given time violations by umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore, while Kokkinakis, who racked up 102 winners, also received a warning for smashing his racket after a ridiculous point in the third set where Murray retrieved three smashes.

A sizeable number of fans stuck it out to the bitter end but Murray railed to Asderaki-Moore about the lateness of the hour, branding it “disrespectful”, and the increasing number of post-midnight finishes will surely focus attention on tennis’ scheduling.

Having spent more than 10 hours on court, Murray must now somehow try to recover for a third-round clash with Roberto Bautista Agut, the player he lost to in 2019 when it appeared his career was over.

Asked how he had managed to come through the longest match of his career, Murray told Eurosport: “I don’t know.

“It was unbelievable that I managed turn that around. Thanasi was serving unbelievably, hitting his forehand huge and I don’t know how I managed to get through it.

“I did start playing better as the match went on – and yes, I have a big heart.”

He added: “I think now I am outright the (winner of) most matches coming back from two sets to love down, so I have done it before, I have experience of it and I just rely on that experience and that drive and that fight, and my love of the game and competing and my respect for this event and the competition.

“That’s why I kept going.”