Andy Murray crashes out of the Australian Open to world No.120 Taro Daniel
Andy Murray is out of the Australian Open at the second round after losing in straight sets to world No.120 Taro Daniel.
The Japanese qualifier recorded a convincing 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over the former British No.1 to reach the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career.
After his five-set epic win over Nikoloz Basilashvili that lasted close to four hours Murray spoke of his desire to close out matches quicker, but it seems Daniel didn’t get the memo – breaking the Scot in the third game that lasted nearly 14 minutes.
Murray broke back in the sixth but couldn’t follow up on his serve as the qualifier proved right from the off he was prepared to go the distance in this one.
Quick on his feet and rarely putting a foot wrong with his decision making, Daniel had Murray on strings as he took a deserved one-set lead over the three-time Grand Slam champion.
The 28-year-old was now on a 10 set winning streak having not dropped a set through qualifying and looked pretty unfazed.
<p lang=«en» dir=«ltr» xml:lang=«en»>It’s not goodbye but see you later ð¤ð@andy_murray ⢠#AusOpen ⢠#AO2022 pic.twitter.com/hSdnDvI7DrWhereas Murray’s shots lacked conviction, falling short of the baseline, Daniel’s were landing in both corners of the court and he once again broke his opponent on the third game of the second set.
Murray was struggling to find an answer to Daniel’s resilience as the second set soon fell before him with the Japanese continuing to take his chances.
But British fans know Murray loves to make things difficult for himself and he was never going to throw in the towel.
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