MELBOURNE. – Five-time runner-up Andy Murray moved into the second round of the Australian Open on Tuesday after beating Italian 13th seed Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7(7), 7-6(10-6) in a see-saw battle that lasted four hours and 49 minutes.
The Briton saved a match point in the final set before taking the contest to a tiebreak.

“I’ll be feeling this in the evening and tomorrow, but right now I’m proud of myself,” Murray, 35, said.
“That’s the first time I’ve played a 10-point tiebreaker and it feels a little different.”
Nick Kyrgios was forced to pull out of his home Slam due to a knee injury, but the Australian said he hopes to play at the French Open for the first time since 2017, with an eye on a return to the Tour in March at Indian Wells.
“I’ll definitely have ‘French Open’ circled on my calendar,” Kyrgios told The Age.
“I think I’m as motivated as ever. I was ready for the AO (Australian Open) . . . I’m just going to use this as fuel.”
Eighth seed Taylor Fritz fired 32 aces in his 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 victory over Nikoloz Basilashvili to move into the second round and the American’s next big challenge is persuading his girlfriend to let him to play video games.
“I’m gonna get lots of hours of recovery after the match, make sure I’m feeling good, maybe get some dinner and possibly play some video games if my girlfriend lets me,” Fritz said.
In one of only three matches still on court, former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova smashed 19 winners to beat China’s Wang Xiyu 6-1, 6-3 under the roof at Margaret Court Arena.
Organizers said play on outdoor courts would not resume before 5 p.m. local time. The roofs will remain closed on the main show courts for the matches currently in play.
Play on outside courts has been halted due to extreme heat, with the temperature around 35 degrees Celsius (95°F).
Fourth seed Caroline Garcia cruised into the second round with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Canadian qualifier Katherine Sebov, while Elise Mertens fought back from a set down to hold off 2020 finalist and former world No. 1 Garbine Muguruza 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-1.
Home favorite Kimberly Birrell, who was granted a main-draw spot after Venus Williams pulled out, produced a stunning comeback to beat 31st seed Kaia Kanepi 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-1.
World No. 6 Andrey Rublev scored a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over 2020 finalist Dominic Thiem in just over two hours to earn his first win of the season.
“I know that he’s going through not easy times … I wish him to come back to the level he can be at as fast as possible,” Rublev said of former world No. 3 Thiem, who is coming back from a debilitating wrist injury.
In a rematch of the 2021 quarterfinal, Grigor Dimitrov beat Aslan Karatsev 7-6(3), 7-5, 6-2 in a first-round battle between the former semifinalists.
Leylah Fernandez, the 2021 US Open runner-up, earned her first main-draw win in Melbourne after beating last year’s quarterfinalist Alize Cornet 7-5, 6-2.
Slovakian qualifier and former world No. 26 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova ousted 21st seed Martina Trevisan 6-3, 6-2 and will next face another Italian, Camila Giorgi.
With the temperature rising, fifth seed Aryna Sabalenka wasted no time on her first match at the tournament with a convincing 6-1, 6-4 victory over Tereza Martincova.
The Belarusian will next face American Shelby Rogers, who beat qualifier Arianne Hartono 6-4, 6-3. — Reuters