January 15, (THEWILL) – Andy Murray was defeated 6-3, 6-3 by Russian Aslan Karatsev in the final of the Sydney Tennis Classic before the Australian Open.
The former world number one, who was playing in his first ATP final since 2019, was no match for Karatsev, who beat fellow Britishman Dan Evans in the semi-finals.
Murray was fatigued following a physically draining struggle against Reilly Opelka in the semi-finals, and Karatsev constructed his victory on thunderous wins from the back of the court that Murray had little answer for.
The first-serve percentage of the Brit dwindled as the Russian broke his service in the first game and made only four unforced errors throughout the match.
At the start of the second set, Karatsev broke Murray for the second time after serving out the first.
In the sixth game of the second set, the Scot came close to breaking Karatsev, but he threw away two break points.
Yet, Murray will be encouraged by his run to the final ahead of a wildcard appearance at the Australian Open.
And he had nothing but praise for the Sydney fans, his opponent, his family back home, and the team that had helped him reach another final: “I’d like to congratulate Aslan on a fantastic week,” he said after the defeat.
“I know he arrived here late in Australia after COVID, it’s impressive to come back and play at that level. All the best for the Aussie Open.”
“I’d like to thank my team for all their help this year. First time in a final for three years – it’s been a long road but I couldn’t have done it without all your help. I’d also like to thank my family back home, I miss you all. I’d also like to say thank you to those putting on the event, you did a fantastic event, it’s not easy in these times – I really enjoyed it.
“Finally to all of you who came out to support tonight, what an amazing atmosphere to play in, it was so good! I’ve really missed playing in front of these crowds, unfortunately the result didn’t go my way but I’ll do my best to come back and play in these sorts of matches.”
Murray begins his campaign on Tuesday against Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili, and with a solid run in Melbourne, he has a chance to break back into the top 100 in the world.
Karatsev, who reached the semi-finals in Melbourne last year, now has three ATP titles under his belt.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
