Andy Murray beats Tomas Martin Etcheverry in another THREE HOUR thriller

Andy Murray brought another opponent to the brink before wresting victory from him in his three-set, three-hour win against Tomas Martin Etcheverry in Indian Wells.

Murray has started to get used to winning matches leading up to the decider in 2023, with Thursday’s match marking the seventh time this year that the former Wimbledon champion has won in the final.

The former world number 1 has played just three matches in the best-of-three or best-of-five format in which not all sets have been played, and he lost all of them.

Etcheverry came close to defeating the indefatigable player, starting strongly to take the first set tie-break and set up break point for a 2-1 lead in the second.

Both men had a chance to capitalize on the match but Murray stayed the course and fought back after a vital serve hold.

But after saving break point, Murray rallied back to level things at one set apiece.

Things seemed to be going well for the Argentine in the third, as Murray trailed 4-3 on serve as he eyed the barrel of two break points.

After consolidating vital control, Murray put in a spectacular run to seize the match and set up his second-round clash with 15th seed Pablo Carreno Busta.

In his post-match interview, Murray acknowledged the do-or-die nature of his late-career contests.

“I’ve been fighting to the max,” Murray said. ‘I really want to make the most of these last years that I have.

‘I’ve managed to wrestle in some brutal matches. It really has been amazing.

The world ranked number 55 added: ‘I don’t want this to stop. I know it will at some point, but while it’s going like this, I might as well enjoy it.’

Since Murray’s second hip surgery in 2019, the player has seen a gradual revival of his career, breaking into the top 50 in 2022 after rehiring former coach Ivan Lendl to take over his program.

Another high point last season for Murray was reaching the final of the Stuttgart Open, where he beat top-five player Stefanos Tsitsipas for the first time since 2016 to set up his clash with Berrettini.

Murray was in contention for his maiden title of 2023 at the end of February at the Qatar Open, but facing former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev in the final proved to be a step too far.

speaking to bbc sport after beating Etcheverry, Murray was realistic.

“I’m not going to keep winning every three-setter I play, but it’s been an incredible start to the year,” said the 35-year-old.

“It was still a good effort to change that, as the first set was extremely long and I was thinking ‘here we go again’.

The former world number 1 looked exhausted as the match reached its thrilling conclusion.

After the match, Murray hailed his ‘incredible start to the year’ as he sealed another win.

Three hours and 12 minutes was nothing compared to the five-set epic Murray fought with Thannis Kokkinakis until 4am at the Australian Open in January.

“This is a place where I haven’t always played my best tennis, so I was very happy that I managed to change that.”

In January, Murray played the longest match of his career at the Australian Open, spending five hours and 45 minutes on court with Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second round of the competition.

Murray defeated Kokkinakis in a five-set thriller that went to two tiebreaks, an achievement made all the more remarkable by the fact that Murray had already taken his first-round content against 13th seed Berrettini to five sets two days earlier.

The second round clash concluded at 4:05am Melbourne time.

If Murray beats Spain’s Carreño Busta, he will face an all-British match in the third round, facing British number 2 Dan Evans or British number 4 Jack Draper, who will meet tomorrow in California for their second-round tie.