In a disappointing result for his fans, former world no.1 Andy Murray lost his second-round Australian Open contest against Japan’s Taro Daniel in straight set, 4-6,4-6,4-6. Murray showed glimpses of his past best but that couldn’t manage to produce top-notch tennis consistently against a fresh opponent like Daniel.
Murray, who had a marathon five setter against Basilashvili in the previous round, was hoping to produce a similar result today but failed to do so. In addition to the defeat, the 2016 Wimbledon Champion was given a code violation during the match.
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Andy Murray was given a code violation during round two match at Australian Open
Murray is usually a loud customer during matches. He could be seen talking to his team, shouting and them and even de-motivating himself at times when a shot goes wrong. When the umpire gave the code violation, Murray couldn’t figure out why he was given the violation for.
Before the violation, Andy was seen throwing a racquet in frustration and also yelled ‘prat’. While it remains unclear for which reason the Brit was handed a code violation, it doesn’t matter as Murray won’t be continuing his run at the Australian Open.
Andy Murray problems: Having to enquire of the umpire whether you got a code violation for saying "prat" or for throwing your racquet.
Bigger Andy Murray problems: Taro Daniel serving for the match.
— The Tennis Podcast (@TennisPodcast) January 20, 2022
It was the first meeting between Murray and Taro Daniel. In comparison to the Brit, Daniel was able to play the crucial points better and also stayed ahead of Murray in converting break points. Even the score-board indicates how close the contest was between the two players.
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To his credit, Taro Daniel displayed utmost grit and remained unfazed when met with adversity. Murray, on the other hand, had opportunities in all the three sets but failed to capitalize on any of them.
After this early exit, Andy Murray’s plans for the rest of the season are yet to be revealed. But, he made his intentions clear even before the Australian Open as he would like to play as many tournaments as possible in order to get close to his previous best.
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