Australian Open 2023 – Andy Murray’s 4 am finish a ‘farce’  

Andy Murray’s fantastic second-round match at the Australian Open took five hours and 45 minutes. 

Murray, 35, five-set win over home favourite Thanasi Kokkinakis, ended at 4 am, something he described as a “farce.” 

It followed his first-round win on Tuesday when he sealed victory in four hours 49 minutes against Italian Matteo Berrettini.

“I don’t know who it’s [the late finish] beneficial for,” said Murray on Rod Laver Arena after the match.

“We come here after the match and that’s what the discussion is, rather than it being like, ‘epic Murray-Kokkinakis match’. It ends in a bit of a farce.

“Amazingly people stayed until the end, and I really appreciate people doing that and creating an atmosphere for us. Some people obviously need to work the following day and everything.”

Murray was two sets down and looked to be out of the competition before digging deep to come back – 4-6 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 7-5.

He will now face Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round.

The crowd were treated to an epic match from both players despite it approaching the six-hour mark. But Murray also highlighted how unfair it is on the ball kids. 

“If my child was a ball kid for a tournament and they’re coming home at five in the morning, as a parent, I’m snapping at that. It’s not beneficial for them,” he said. 

“It’s not beneficial for the umpires, the officials. I don’t think it’s amazing for the fans. It’s not good for the players.”

The match start time of 22:20 was also an issue, Murray said. 

“We talk about it all the time, and it’s been spoken about for years

“But when you start the night matches late and have [cold] conditions like that, these things are going to happen.”