Going where no athletes should be asked to go, Andy Murray and Thanasi Kokkinakis faced each other down the court to play the 388th point of their Australian Open second round.
It was 4.05am, with five hours and 45 minutes on the clock, when the 35-year-old Scot reached deep inside himself one last time and uncorked a backhand winner past the despairing Australian.
Never before has he had to draw on such physical resources to win a match, even on the 10 previous occasions when he has come back from two sets down.
Andy Murray emerged from the rubble of a remarkable five-hour epic at 4:05am in Melbourne
The two men embraced at the net and the 1,500 hardy souls rose to their feet, even the locals who had roared themselves hoarse in support of the genial Kokkinakis, 26, the reigning doubles champion at this tournament.
Murray was left with just about enough energy to field a few jocular questions from the on-court interviewer, John Fitzgerald. ‘I’ve got a big heart,’ he said, in an early contender for the understatement of the year. ‘You’ve got a big everything,’ stated Fitzgerald and Murray even had the wits left to respond: ‘That’s not what my wife says.’
How there was room in his head for anything at this ridiculous hour was just one more miracle of another astonishing night in the career of one who just refuses to give it all away.
Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis had led by two sets to nil and looked to be cruising to victory
Murray looked to be struggling early on to keep up with his significantly younger opponent
Soon he was walking off, with a limp accompanying the subsiding of the adrenaline which had carried him through. Not far behind was coach Ivan Lendl, who has usually been around when Murray has performed his greatest deeds. Lendl is usually close to getting up at this time of day for his golf practice, but was now on his latest ever duty with his employer.
‘It was amazing, an absolutely brilliant effort. I am so proud of him but to be honest a bit lost for words,’ Lendl said before slipping away into the locker room.
Somehow Lendl and the rest of Murray’s team have to turn him around for a third round against Roberto Bautista Agut, the No 24 seed who never gives an inch.
It was the same player who the Scot faced here four years ago when he thought it was all over due to persistent hip problems. The tournament was so sure of it that they got his peers lined up to pay tribute.
This year the draw has actually opened up in Murray’s quarter, although surely it will be difficult to take advantage after so much has been taken out of him.
This, remember, was the sequel to another extraordinary match on Tuesday, when Matteo Berrettini was edged out in a fifth set tiebreak. That match took four hours and 49 minutes, so the mileage in the legs is an issue.
He at times appeared disconsolate in between change overs as he toiled to stay in the match
The match was defined by rallies which Murray was eventually able to defend well before pouncing
The man should never be written off, however, for he has granite in the soul as well as metal in the hip.
This match was bewildering and brilliant, played under circumstances which tennis — in true fashion — says it must do something about but never gets round to changing.
It is notable that there were no rain delays, unlike on Wednesday when Cam Norrie finished at 1.28am. This latest all-nighter was merely the consequence of a clogged schedule and the fact that the balls are slower, especially when the temperatures are down.
The latest finish of 4.34am at Melbourne Park in 2008 was never quite under threat, but Jo Konta’s 3.12am ending in 2019 certainly was going to be surpassed. That was guaranteed before Murray sailed past his previous record of five hours and seven minutes, the Davis Cup epic against Juan Martin del Potro in 2016.
Energy surges came intermittently for both players and, incredibly, some of the tennis was at its highest level early in the decider. The Australian moved to 5-4 and got to deuce, helped by a fluky netcord.
The Brit rolled back the years to produce a masterclass in never-say-die tennis in early hours
Both players exhibited frustration at points with both seemingly baffled by how the match had been allowed to stretch on for so long
Still Murray held him off and then created three break points of his own at 5-5, which were answered with big serves before a rare shanked forehand. The lack of mistakes in the gruelling conditions was unworldly.
Finally, on the fourth break point the twice Wimbledon champion found a forehand that ripped across the court beyond Kokkinakis, allowing him to serve for it as the clock hit 4am.
The Australian had made a nonsense of his falsely deflated 159 in the rankings, because he is way better than that with his sweet ball striking off the ground and booming serve.
Injuries have stunted the career of someone who beat Roger Federer at the age of 21, and who possesses a huge artillery that throughout was able to penetrate the court in the cold night air.
Kokkinakis came to rue a number of missed opportunities as he criminally allowed Murray back in
Murray suffered against the huge forehand of his opponent, who is the best friend and doubles partner of Nick Kyrgios, with whom he has plenty in common, except when it comes to stamina.
Kokkinakis was much the sharper in the first set, and with Murray struggling to neutralise his forehand, he clinched the first tiebreak with midnight having come and gone.
Still Murray resisted and levelled early in the third set when he played one of the greatest points of his career, sending up four defensive lobs that finally drew an error from his opponent.
Kokkinakis nonetheless served for the match at 5-3, but, within sight of the winning post, tightened up and was comfortably broken. When the second tiebreak came he was within two points of the match, but then made a hash of an overhead to send it into a fourth, with three hours 29 minutes already on the clock.
They put their in-match differences aside as the two shattered men embraced at the end of the epic
Murray’s strategy was now to attack the net far more, and his success rate when moving in was above 80 per cent. He moved to 5-2 but came under threat when Kokkinakis got a fourth or fifth wind.
He just about held off the late challenge to close that one out and then vented at umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore because he had used up his two toilet break allocations.
‘I respect the rules but it’s so disrespectful to us that the tournament has us out until 3am and won’t even allow us to go for a p***, you know it’s a joke,’ said Murray.
Fortunately there seems no limit when it comes to bloody-minded resolve.
