Day 4 at the Australian Open saw an epic post-4am finish with Andy Murray coming back from 0-2 down to beat Thanasi Kokkinakis in a match that will go down in history. But there was plenty of other exciting action earlier in the day as well.
Australian Open Day 4 Men’s Recap
Who looked good
Andy Murray won the longest match of his career, against Thanasi Kokkinakis, coming back from 0-2 down to get yet another epic win, showing that he still has a lot of life left in him. Murray looked down and out with Kokkinakis serving for the match in the 3rd set, but he never gave up and he now gets to dream of another deep run in Melbourne after two consecutive epic five-set wins.
Grigor Dimitrov quietly made his way through the first two rounds without dropping a set. While a third round match against Novak Djokovic is a daunting task, Djokovic doesn’t look to be at his best physically so there might be a bit of a chance for the Bulgarian.
Holger Rune had a potentially tricky match against Maxime Cressy, but he made very easy work of it, easily neutralizing the American’s massive serve and dominating the rallies all throughout. He looks capable of having a deep run here.
Who looked bad
Casper Ruud looked like he could mount a comeback from 0-2 down after the way he saved match points in the third set and ended up winning it, but it wasn’t to be. He was far from the level he had shown late last year at the US Open and the ATP Finals and is out of the tournament.
Pablo Carreno Busta has made a habit of clutching defeat from the jaws of victory at Grand Slam level and he did it again Thursday, losing from 2-0 up in sets against Benjamin Bonzi. His inability to close out matches at Slams continues to be an issue.
Alexander Zverev is still far from his pre-injury level and got comprehensively outplayed by Michael Mmoh in this second round encounter. Zverev is bound to improve throughout the year but right now he’s looking very far from his previous contending level.
Match of the day
There’s absolutely no competition here. Andy Murray and Thanasi Kokkinakis produced an Australian Open classic that will be remembered for a long time and surely go down as one of the matches of the year. It had everything: great quality, drama, twists and turns all throughout. It might well end up being the match that comes to mind when people think back of this edition of the Australian Open.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
