Alex De Minaur pictured with Milos Raonic – Photo Getty Images
Andy Murray, The 36-year-old lost on Monday in the first round of the Australian Open, a tournament in which he has been a finalist five times in the last decade and always ended on the “wrong” side in those games. Now the British tennis player admits that this may have been his last trip to the Antipodes.
“It's very likely, I would even say likely, that this was my last Australian Open,” Murray admitted in a brief interview with the press after the loss to Tomas Etcheverry. The Briton gave the crowd a long greeting as he left the pitch, a gesture that seemed like a farewell.
We recall that Murray had already announced his retirement during the 2018 Australian Open, receiving videos and other tributes from the organizers. However, he later underwent surgery on his right hip, extending his career.
He defended his Australian Open finalist title, Stefanos Tsitsipas lost the first set in the 2024 edition, but then dominated the next three sets and convincingly secured a place in the second round. This came after he had doubts about taking part in Melbourne due to a back injury, which he overcame with a lot of work.
“I spoke to tennis players who suffered from the same injury and I realized that this problem is more common than I thought. I managed to shorten the recovery time significantly, but these weeks have been crazy. When I managed to get out of bed, I did some training in the gym to strengthen myself, but almost nothing on the pitch,” he revealed. But now he's doing well again. “It was great to be back and show a good level of play. I felt much better on the pitch and was able to keep my concentration.
Alex de Minaur had a lot of difficulties Milos Raonic He was in full physical condition, but the Canadian realized that it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to cope with the intensity of the top competition and felt a certain discomfort that forced him to retire in the third set. The Australian seemed to feel the pressure of being the big local hope and let the first set slip away, but managed to respond in time and capitalize on his opponent's loss as it was 6-7 (6), 6-3, 2 – 0. His next opponent will be at the Australian Open 2024 Matteo Arnaldi.
Gael Monfils He entered the 2024 Australian Open with excellent feelings, knowing he had to take advantage of every game played as he is in the final phase of his career. Nevertheless, the Frenchman maintains his passion and was satisfied with his work in the press conference. “It's always great to win in three sets. I played very well and knew that I had to finish the game as quickly as possible,” emphasized Gael, who will now face Tomás Martín Etcheverry and accompanies his wife Elina Svitolina in this tournament, in which both are present with their daughter Skaï . “It is very challenging to travel with our daughter while we are both still active. Luckily we have people to help us. “I am very happy that more and more tennis players are deciding to have children and continue playing,” he said.
Adrian Mannarino scored a commanding victory over Wawrinka in the first round of the 2024 Australian Open, but said he was not entirely happy with his level of play and attributed the enormous difficulty in controlling the ball to the intense heat that day in Melbourne was felt. “The balls are very different this year depending on the weather. They are very comfortable in warm weather, the balls are easy to control and you feel like you can hit with great scope. However, when it is hot, they jump a lot and it becomes difficult to respond. “I don't like it at all when the conditions are very hot,” admitted the Frenchman.
Stan Wawrinka He failed to defeat Mannarino in an epic first match of the 2024 Australian Open, but his words in the press conference inspire hope and optimism among all fans of the sport. “I'm sad about the defeat, but very happy with the ten days in Australia because I was able to do great training and regain a good feeling on the pitch. “I got here just in time because I got injured at the start of pre-season and couldn't train much,” said the Swiss before discussing his possible retirement. “I think I have a good chance of improving further and achieving good results this year. I hope this is not my last participation in the Australian Open, I am quite optimistic and think I will play here again next year,” he concluded.
Marco Rossi
