Good morning, I hope this Monday dawns bright for you, and hopefully this is a great day for Andy Murray. The iron man of British sport is having another tilt at a major, he says that he wants to go deep in a big tournament and whatever happens today against Tomas Martin Etcheverry, you can bet that Sir Andy will fight to the last. And that he will give his fans joy and probably a bit of agony on the way.
Murray is playing next on the Kia Arena. He has to wait for Stan Wawrinka to finish his match. Stan, like Andy, has won three slams in surely the hardest era to have ever played and is having a right battle with Adrian Mannarino, into a fourth set there.
Murray is making his 16th appearance in the main draw at Melbourne Park on Monday. Etcheverry is seeded (30) but one other indefatigable tennis great is saying you should never bet against Murray.
“Well, I would never rule Andy out,” Becker said on Eurosport. “As long as he has fun, as long as he enjoys it and as long as he has success, he will continue.
“I was worried a couple of years ago when he did the press conference and said it was most likely his last one because it was before his surgery so he didn’t know if he would come back.
“We moved past that and I think he is physically fit enough, but obviously the tennis circuit doesn’t sleep and Andy doesn’t get younger either.
“Those 22-years-old are now those 24-years-olds and Andy is 36 so the clock is ticking.
“I am sure he will do well this year., I am sure he is aiming for a successful Wimbledon and he’ll take it from there.”
His longevity and heart are legendary and while there are few who would bet on him reaching a 12th slam final, or in all honesty getting particularly close, there is so much to admire about his will to try.
He has been runner-up here a sickening five times (he lost to Federer in 2010 and then four times to Djokovic in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016) but he has produced some of the best tennis of his storied career in Australia.
His opponent is a 24-year-old Argentine, who is the 30th seed and also ranked 30 in the world.