Former world number one Andy Murray was stunned by Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel in straight sets in the second round of the Australian Open on Thursday.
The 120th-ranked Daniel ambushed the three-time Grand Slam winner 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 in 2hr 48min on John Cain Arena to reach the third round of a major for the first time. He will now face either Italian 11th seed Jannik Sinner or American Steve Johnson.
“Amazing level from me. I was getting pretty nervous in the third set, I was cramping a little bit, but I tried not to make too big a deal out of this match against Andy Murray,” Daniel said.
The 34-year-old Murray, ranked 113 and play-ing as a tournament wild card, didn’t stick around afterwards and walked quickly from the court, showing great disappointment at his lost opportu-nity. Murray, who had career-saving hip surgery in 2019, on Tuesday won his first match at the Austra-lian Open since 2019.
But his five-set epic against big-hitting Geor-gian 21st seed Nikoloz Basilashvili left the veteran leaden-footed and he cut a frustrated figure at times, even changing his shoes at one point to stem the tide.
The 28-year-old Daniel exploited his illustrious rival’s lethargy and was whippet-quick around the court chasing down balls, while Murray was picking his battles.—AFP
