Australian Open – Debrief – The Big 3 of the day: Murray, a little return to the future

The three highlights

To Murray’s delight, and to ours

Unquestionably, the first very great moment of this fortnight. An intense match, with twists and turns, a match point saved (or rather wasted by Matteo Berrettini), almost five hours on the Rod Laver Arena and, at the end of the end, an epic victory for Andy Murray, who is hard not to be happy about. Since his return, after the announcement of retirement quickly put in the closet, the Scot has rowed, struggled, sometimes is painful to see and, even when he was able to fight battles worthy of the name, he has most often lost, like his defeat in five sets against Tsitsipas at the US Open 2021. Another failure would have hurt after leading two sets to nothing.

The former world number one admits it, he has asked himself a lot of questions in recent years. He sometimes wondered what all this was for. To continue, at over 35, to work like crazy in training, to inflict insane physical loads on oneself. Like these three weeks of intense preparation in Florida in the offseason. All this for what ? For that, Andy. For matches and moments like that first round against Berrettini. Yes, it was worth seeing, and probably even more so.

5 sets and 4h50 of play to release Berrettini: Private Murray is still alive

Zverev, the simple pleasure of victory…

…and perhaps even the purer one of playing tennis again in such a prestigious setting. Alexander Zverev has been absent for a long time, he has come a long way and starts from scratch. For his first Grand Slam match since his serious injury in the Roland-Garros semi-final against Nadal, the German gained courage more than anything else against the Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas. A success in five sets, but no matter. On the contrary, even. To rediscover not only the taste of the game but also that of the fight, it is double ration of pleasure.

To measure what this day represents for him, it was enough to look at his eyes, very bright, after the match point. There are no wonders to be expected from him in this fortnight, but the main thing is elsewhere in Melbourne for the Olympic champion. When he blows into the microphone on the court that “this game alone is enough all the hard work and no matter what happens now this tournament is a success for me“, he’s not bluffing. The time for ambition will surely come back, but here, it’s above all a time for pleasure.

5 sets to start for Zverev: The highlights of his 1st round against Varillas

Garcia, ideal start

It wasn’t the most complex first lap in history on paper, but when you have, like Caroline Garcia, a good little sign behind your back, it’s never easy to manage this kind of situation. Against Katherine Sebov, 190th in the world and from qualifying, the Lyonnaise did the job, and rather very well. After a tight start to the game, she broke free after the first break to win 6-3, 6-0.

Untouchable on his serve, with 17 points won out of 18 on his first serve, “Flying Caro” had a substantial margin on Tuesday. Now the hardest part comes. In the second round, another Canadian awaits her, but of a completely different caliber. Against Leylah Fernandez, former US Open finalist, we will really know what her state of mind is in Melbourne. If she passes with a comparable authority, not to mention the score, she will really be in the category of contenders. There’s no reason not to believe it, but this first test will tell more than this first round.

Garcia, a demonstration to start: The highlights of his 1st round against Sebov

The three declas of the day

Jeremy Chardy

I didn’t even know if I could play tennis again, so being able to be here, in a Grand Slam, on the court, playing, training, it’s just fun and a bonus. I savor every moment and the result is even the least important“.

Alize Cornet

On Leylah Fernandez, who knocked her out on Tuesday and will face Caroline Garcia in the next round: “There are some pretty interesting tactical aspects to put in place against her. I think Caro will be able to put them in place. And then with her serve… Honestly, I put Caroline as the winner without any problem.

Holger Rune

On his presence in season 2 of BreakPoint, the Netflix documentary series: “They have already started filming me. I think the idea is to film during my next game too. That’s great. For tennis, for players. It’s win-win, it promotes our sport.

First victory for Rune in Melbourne: The highlights of his 1st round against Krajinovic

The three stats to remember

8. After knee surgery last spring, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova ended her 2022 season very prematurely. She is back but the road will be long. On Tuesday, it was swept away in 55 minutes by the Italian Camila Giorgi. With this apocalyptic statistic: on her serve, she only won eight points. Five on his first ball, three on his second. Eight points out of 33 played, less than one in four. A nightmare.

13. American tennis has regained an unprecedented density among men since the 90s. This start of the Australian Open is in the process of confirming it. They are already nine qualified for the second round and the contingent could rise to 13 since John Isner, Michael Mmoh, Maxime Cressy and Brandon Holt, whose meetings have been interrupted, are all on waivers. It’s not yet the big comeback of the American empire, but compared to three or four years ago, what a change…

504. It’s hard to believe but we hadn’t seen Jérémy Chardy on the main circuit since the US Open 2021. That is 504 days. Not only did Palois replay Tuesday in Melbourne, but he won against Colombian Daniel Galan, 70th in the world (1-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-4). His first victory since the Tokyo Olympics in July 2021. For a year and a half, he had accumulated health problems.

Chardy signs his return against Galan: The highlights of his 1st round

The three points of the day

THE point of the day: incredible exchange between Wolf and Thompson

A long rally, a tweener and a smash: the daybreak is signed Wolf

When Kokkinakis ignites the Kia Arena

Kokkinakis sets fire to Melbourne: his superb point against Fognini

Berrettini’s crispness on his match point

How could he miss that? Berrettini’s incredible miss on the match point

The three matches to follow tomorrow

Coco Gauff – Emma Raducanu

This is a shock that would not have gone wrong much further down the table. If Emma Raducanu has had a very difficult year since her title at the US Open in September 2021, she is nonetheless a Grand Slam champion. Facing her, Coco Gauff is expected even higher in 2023. It is undoubtedly the most exciting meeting of this third day.

Highlights of Gauff – Siniakova

Frances Tiafoe – Juncheng Shang

The American showman against the Chinese gem under 18. Said like that, it can be envy. We really want to see Frances Tiafoe again in US Open 2022 mode, to see him advance in the table so that he sets fire to the Melbourne night sessions. He will start as the big favorite against the beginner Juncheng Shang, promised to a bright future. The case could turn short but it’s intriguing.

Rafael Nadal – McKenzie McDonald

Another match in day session for the defending champion. After his rather reassuring start against Jack Draper on Monday, it will be interesting to see what copy the number one seed can make against the American McKenzie and in particular how he goes on physically.

Clément on Nadal: “When we see his performance in the 1st round, we can really be reassured”

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