Andy Murray fascinates everyone at the Australian Open

“I have a big heart.”

A lot of people say that about themselves – but in the case of Andy Murray, that might be the understatement of the century.

Things then got a little slippery when, in an on-court interview, the Scot replied to ex-tennis pro John Fitzgerald’s suggestion that everything would be great for him: “I’m not sure if my wife would agree with that .”

Minutes earlier, Murray had made history by winning the longest match of his career in a five-set thriller at 4:05 a.m. Friday morning (local time). (NEWS: Epic Thriller at Australian Open!)

At 5:45 hours, the 35-year-old and his opponent Thanasi Kokkinakis missed the record for the longest Australian Open match in history by a few minutes – but Murray had still achieved something historic. (NEWS: Everything about the Australian Open)

Because he was the first player in the Open Era (since 1968) to turn a two-set deficit for the eleventh time – and no statistic in the world describes Andy Murray and his tennis career better than this.

And the one point that needs to be shown to later generations to make clear what a unique player Murray was happened in that match too, at the scores of 4-6, 6-7 and 0-2 from his point of view.

At a time when the 35-year-old was facing certain end and some would have given in, Murray fought doggedly for the last straw in a ten-minute service game against the much younger opponent.

The unbelievable happened on his fourth breakball: Murray first sprinted two balls into the corner that many had already won as Kokkinakis hit – he moaned in pain as his metal hip became noticeable during the fast turns.

There followed three overhead balls from the Australian at the net, all of which Murray anticipated and ran before he was able to push his opponent back to the baseline with a perfect emergency lob. Kokkinakis, probably also at a loss as to how to win the point against this guy, slammed the ball into the net shortly afterwards.

Murray then put a hand to his ear and gestured at the freaked onlookers that he couldn’t hear them. Then he cried out his emotions – and even got a thumbs up from Kokkinakis, who had probably never seen anything like it either.

Even other tennis pros freaked out on social media. For example, Christopher Eubanks wrote that this was arguably the best breakball he had ever seen. 41-year-old Feliciano Lopez even wrote that Murray was his hero.

And then there was the message from Juan Martin del Potro, who dubbed Murray an “amazing legend.” Few can better empathize with Murray’s travails than the long-suffering Argentine, who ended his career in tears last year.

By the end of the year, however, del Potro had hinted that he would consider making a comeback if his body allowed it – and Murray’s recent successes are certainly encouraging for the 34-year-old, as for many other injury-plagued players.

After all, Murray’s medical record should fill several folders.

His hip in particular bothered him for many years and the first operation did not bring much improvement. In July 2018, the three-time Grand Slam winner finally fell back to 839th place – and was only the 23rd best Briton. (SERVICE: ATP world rankings)

Just a year and a half earlier, Murray had taken the world number one spot after winning a second Wimbledon and a second individual gold at the Olympics that same year.

Murray was rightly considered a member of the Big 4, because despite Stan Wawrinka’s three Grand Slam successes, Murray was the only one who could consistently compete with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

However, his injuries ultimately ensured that today, in general, only the Big 3 are spoken of.

In January 2019, everything seemed to be over when Murray announced his tears on the sidelines of the Australian Open after Wimbledon at the latest. After his first round in Australia, a big farewell ceremony followed on the court with video messages from numerous ATP and WTA stars.

Even after tips from numerous companions such as doubles legend Bob Bryan, who had been plagued by similar hip problems and who got rid of them after special hip surgery, Murray still left a back door open.

But nobody expected then that Murray would still be able to perform tennis miracles with this new metal hip like he did against Kokkinakis. Especially after he sensationally defeated the Italian Matteo Berrettini, Wimbledon finalist in 2021, in five sets in round one.

After the incredible match against Kokkinakis, WTA social media officials even pulled out Murray’s old farewell video, full of messages from the players after he announced his retirement in Australia, and captioned it with an embarrassed laughing emoji.

In the third round, Murray comes full circle, because there he meets Roberto Bautista-Agut, exactly the opponent he lost to in 2019 after five sets, after which his farewell was celebrated.

Murray is likely to be walking on the gums after almost 11 hours of tennis at the age of 35, a metal hip and an insane bedtime due to what Murray himself described as a sham in Melbourne.

But if one of them can’t be stopped, it’s Murray. He returned to the facility and trained just seven hours after his thriller against Kokkinakis. Nevertheless, he goes into the duel with the Spaniard as an outsider.

But nobody should underestimate him. Because there’s one thing everyone knows about Andy Murray – he’s got a hell of a heart.