ANDY Murray is back in business in tennis grand slams after emerging victorious from a gruelling first-round victory against Nikoloz Basilashvili.
The Scot, returning to the court where he was virtually retired three years ago, delighted a raucous Australian Open crowd with some stunning shots and incredible stamina to see off the 21st seed.
He’ll be back in action soon having qualified for the second round.
What a moment. What a man.@andy_murray you absolute legend 💪
— LTA (@the_LTA) January 18, 2022
🎥 @AustralianOpenpic.twitter.com/DzA9APxkl3
Here’s everything you need to know about his next match.
Who is he playing?
Murray’s first victory in Melbourne for five years has earned him a tie against Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel.
Daniel enjoyed a more straightforward win in the first round, beating Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera 7-6, 6-1, 6-1.
The 28-year-old is currently ranked 120th in the world, while Murray is 113th.
Daniel’s career high ranking was 64 in 2018, when he won his only ATP title in Istanbul.
When is the match?
The match will be held on Thursday 20 January, with the time yet to be decided.
How can I watch it?
TV coverage of the Australian Open in the UK is being produced by discovery+ and shown on Eurosport, which can be viewed via Sky, Virgin Media, BT TV and the Eurosport Player.
The match will also be covered by BBC Radio 5 live sports extra.
What has Murray said?
Looking ahead to the second round, Murray said: “I will hopefully keep improving. There are things in my game I can definitely do better.
“I would love to have a deep run here, if possible. It is something I have not had in one of the slams since I came back from injury and it is something that is motivating me.
“I have played some of my best tennis here over the years. I feel comfortable here and I hope I can do it here this tournament.”
Head-to-head record
Murray and Daniel have played only once before, in the 2016 Davis Cup.
The Scot won in straight sets on a hard court – the same surface used in the Australian Open.
Daniel has never made it past the second round in the Australian Open – or indeed at any grand slam – while Murray is a five-time finalist Melbourne.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here