Andy Murray insists he has earned luck after Matteo Berrettini win

After all the injuries and the operations and the heartache over the last few years, Andy Murray reckoned he was due a bit of fortune. So when his sliced forehand return hit the top of the net and dropped on Matteo Berrettini’s side on his first match point of their Australian Open epic, he was not going to feel guilty.

“I think all the work that I’ve put in these last few months paid off there at the end,” said the Scot. “Yes, I was a little bit lucky on the match point, but I earned that. I stayed remarkably calm at the end.”

At the end of this rollercoaster ride of a match, Murray finally showed his relief and joy in the same Rod Laver Arena where he suffered five final defeats. And it is less than three months since he ended last season with a feeble defeat at the Paris Masters.

But this was like the old days from a man with a new metal hip who finally won his first ever 10-point fifth set tiebreak in style. From his tactical brilliance in taming the danger of the Italian’s big serve and forehand to allowing the former Wimbledon finalist back into the match, this was vintage Murray.

The gods smiled on the Scot again when the Italian slapped a backhand into the bottom of the net on his match point with the court wide open at 5-6 in the final set. “I was lucky there for sure,” he said.

But allying his sheer bloody mindedness with the confidence of knowing his body is match-fit again, Murray outlasted the 26-year-old Italian 6-3 6-3 4-6 7-6 7-6 (10-6) in four hours and 49 minutes.

It was Murray’s second longest match at the Australian Open by just a minute after his epic 2012 semi-final defeat to Novak Djokovic. Murray, who limped over to his post-match courtside interview, said: “I will be feeling this this evening and tomorrow. But right now I am just unbelievably happy and proud of myself

“That’s not something that I generally felt over the years at the end of the tennis matches. I think I’m proud of the work that I put in the last few months. I trained really, really hard over in Florida getting ready to play here.

“I’m really proud of how I fought through that match at the end, when it could have got away from me, and how I played in the tiebreak at the end.

“I was impressed with myself. I’m hard on myself usually. Tonight I need to give myself some credit because the last few years have been tough. I’ve lost those types of matches in the Slams the last couple years, whether that’s the Tsitsipas match (2021 US Open) or Isner at Wimbledon (2022). That one could have gone the other way tonight, but I stayed strong and I deserved to win.”

Was this his biggest win since his surgeries? “I don’t know,” he considered. “I’ve had some good moments since I came back. The Queen’s doubles (2019) for me was special and obviously winning the title in Antwerp but certainly in the last couple of years, I’ve played some pretty ordinary tennis at times.

“Off the back of that, you doubt yourself a lot so this is a great win in a big event but tough to say it’s the best.” Murray, who turns 36 in May, is not finished yet.

“If someone told me you’re gonna put all this effort in just to win the first round of a slam against a top player, I’d be like: ‘Well, no’.” he said. “It’s amazing and I’m glad to be a part of the match and stuff but I believe I have more to give than that.”