Stefanos Tsitsipas has revealed what he thought when he saw Andy Murray had returned to the Australian Open hours after his epic, past-4 am second-round victory over Thanasi Kokkinakis on Thursday night. The 35-year-old rallied from two sets down to defeat Kokkinakis in a marathon match that lasted five hours and 45 minutes and ended well after 4 a.m. in Melbourne.
It was Murray’s second five-set match of the 2023 Australian Open, having already gone the distance against Italy’s Matteo Berrettini in the first round, indicating that he has already survived two titanic battles.
It was also the longest match of Murray’s career, despite the fact that he was on the verge of retiring at the Australian Open in 2019 and had undergone two major hip surgeries in recent years.
That’s the nature of it, what can you do?: Stefanos Tsitsipas
Tsitsipas was asked in his press conference about the bizarre timing of the match’s conclusion, as well as seeing Murray return to Melbourne Park just hours after his victory the night before. “Well, it is no fun for Andy,” Tsitsipas said with a smile.
