A vintage Andy Murray weathered a gallant fightback from Matteo Berrettini before dumping the 13th seeded Italian out of the Australian Open first round with an epic 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (10-6), win on Tuesday.
With the crowd largely in the palm of his hand, the 35-year-old raced out of the blocks to take the first two sets under the roof of a muggy Rod Laver Arena.
A five-time runner-up in the tournament, little has come easy for Murray at Melbourne Park, and so it proved again as Berrettini emerged from a long off-court break between sets dialled-in to level the match.
Murray’s determination never wavered, though, and he held his nerve in the deciding 10-point tiebreak, closing out the match with incredible fortune as his bunted forehand return caught the net and left Berrettini no chance.
“I’ll be feeling this this evening and tomorrow but right now I’m just unbelievably happy, just proud of myself,” Murray said on court after the four-hour 49-minute slog.
“I put a lot of work into the last few months with my team who are here to give me the opportunity to perform in stadiums like this … and it paid off tonight.”
Murray will play the winner of Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis and Italian veteran Fabio Fognini for a place in the third round.
British No. 2 Dan Evans also progressed in Melbourne after beating Argentina’s Facundo Bagnis.
Twenty-fifth seed Evans, won 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, in a first-round match that was delayed for three hours because of extreme heat.
Evans and Murray’s victories mean that four Briton’s move to the second round after Emma Raducanu and Cameron Norrie won on Monday.