Andy Murray out of Australian Open: Briton talks retirement after defeat by Roberto Bautista Agut
Reaction from the first-round match at the Australian Open in Melbourne
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Your support makes all the difference.Andy Murray’s Australian Open is over after losing a thriller to Roberto Bautista Agut in what could be the final match of his career.
Murray is contemplating retirement due to the persistent hip injury that has blighted him for more than two years, with the three-time Grand Slam champion admitting last week that he will retire in 2019, hopefully after one last outing at Wimbledon in the summer.
But such is the pain that he is fighting, Murray could now choose to call it quits now that his Australian Open campaign has come to an end.
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What time does it start?
Murray vs Bautista Agut is due to begin not before 7am, and more likely to be around an 8am start once Kyle Edmund’s match against Tomas Berdych has completed.
Where can I watch it?
The match will be shown live on Eurosport.
Odds
Andy Murray to win: 4/1
Roberto Bautista Agut to win: 1/5
*Murray 4-6, 4-6, 5-4 Bautista AgutMurray wastes a challenge on his opening serve that was correctly called out, and despite battling through the second serve he hits into the net before dropping his head dejectedly. Murray pulls back a point before Bautista Agut sends a lovely backhand down the line to move back in front, but his service return is long and again, Murray fights back.
The resilience that Murray has shown has been nothing short of extraordinary, particularly at this stage of the match, but you wonder how long it can go on.
Murray hits into the net, and Bautista Agut has a crucial break point. But Murray pulls it back to deuce, and he produces a lovely forehand across his body that leaves Bautista Agut stranded for advantage. Can he hold serve? Yes he can! Murray punches the air and if he can just break Bautista Agut for the second time, he'll be well and truly back in the match.
So here we go. Can Murray produces the break that sends the match into a fourth set?
Murray 4-6, 4-6, 5-5 Bautista Agut*Bautista Agut relies on his serve to take the first point, but Murray replies with a beautiful drop-shot and run in to volley a winner to level it. After hitting a forehand wide by millimeters, Murray beats his thigh repeatedly in anger - not advisable with a bad hip really - but again he produces when he needs to and forces an error to move on to 30-30.
Bautista Agut reads Murray well and a volley puts him ahead once more, but Murray produces a sublime return off a wide serve to beat the Spaniard and bring up deuce. Advantage Murray...it's set point Murray...
It's a double-fault...challenged by Bautista Agut...it's in! Second serve up again...and a painstakingly long rally ends with Murray hitting the net to bring it back to deuce. Sporting drama at it's finest.
Murray tries to catch out Bautista Agut with a drop-shot but gets it wrong and it's advantage Bautista Agut, and finally Bautista Agut holds serve to level it up. That was a major chance gone for Murray.
*Murray 4-6, 4-6, 6-5 Bautista AgutHow much did that effort take out of Murray? Bautista Agut fires a forehand past Murray that suggests not as much him as his wounded opponent, but Murray can not afford to drop a game here and he knows it, returning fire with an ace.
A wide forehand sends Bautista Agut scrambling and he can only return into the net, and another powerful serve sees the Spaniard return long for 40-15. He wraps it up with yet another ace down the middle of the court and we'll be going to a tie-break at the very least!
Murray 4-6, 4-6, 6-6 Bautista Agut*Murray rushes in off the return and forces Bautista Agut into an error as he loops the ball wide in an attempted lob. He responds well though, a powerful forehand down the line giving Murray no hope of getting close to it, and he repeats the trick to move 30-15 ahead.
Murray tries to attack the second serve by stepping in but Bautista Agut deals well wit it and Murray fires long, and an ace sends the third set to a tie-break.
Murray 4-6, 4-6, 6-6 Bautista AgutMurray wins the first point on serve, giving him an early advantage to the crowd's delight, and takes one against serve to go 2-0 up! Bautista Agut is up and running as Murray can't return, but he now has two serves to capitalise on.
First up it's an ace, his 13th of the match, and Bautista Agut fires a forehand long that moves him forwards to 4-1 up. However, he almost keels over in pain afterwards and this is definitely taking its toll on Murray.
Murray challenges the next serve, but it just clipped the line and at the changeover it's 4-2 in Murray's favour.
Murray 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) Bautista AgutMurray is left in a spin as Bautista Agut produces a well-placed drop-shot to pull another point back on serve, but Murray responds with an ace. It's challenged...but it's good! 5-3 to Murray.
Bautista Agut produces an emphatic response though against the serve with a forehand from out wide that Murray doesn't even run for, and an unforced error from Bautista Agut sees him thunder a volley return long.
TWO SET POINTS FOR MURRAY
Smart play from Bautista Agut sees him go for a wide serve and delicate drop-shot to pull the score back to 6-5, but Murray has one more chance and this time it's his serve...
MURRAY WINS THE THIRD SET!
And breathe...
Murray went for the big booming ace out wide, and although a flying Bautista Agut reached it to return, Murray came charging in to volley home and trigger huge celebrations. After a quick break, we're ready to go in the fourth set, and who thought we'd be here an hour ago.
Murray 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) 0-1 Bautista Agut*
Suddenly, Murray looks a match for Bautista Agut, although a long slog of a point sees him sent from one side of the court to the other for no return as he slices one into the net. Bautista Agut holds serve in the end rather comfortably as Murray can't return, but he just needs to get back into the swing of things on his own serve to pick where he left off in that dramatic fourth set.
*Murray 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) 1-1 Bautista AgutMurray loses the first point and a little bit of concern creeps through the arena, but he produces an emphatic response with a winner and two aces to quickly assert his dominance on the game. Another mammoth serve can't be returned and that's the game, and while it's obvious, those games are really important for him to recover.
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