Will Murray prevail again?

Finally, the sport is taking centre stage and the next two weeks’ reports from Melbourne will be all about the yellow felt ball. A player who has been marked by many setbacks in recent years and who is competing in Melbourne thanks to a wild card should play a role in this. We are talking about five-time finalist Andy Murray. In the first round, the highly anticipated duel between Nikoloz Basilashvili and Andy Murray will take place on Tuesday.

The Georgian travels a little under the radar, but has already been ranked in the world’s top-20 and is currently ranked 23 in the world, just behind his personal career-high (16th). According to the bookmakers, Basilashvili is still considered an underdog against Murray. The qualities of Murray, who is ranked 113th in the world rankings published on Monday, are undisputed. One should by no means be blinded by the ranking here.

In addition, the momentum speaks for itself, because while the 29-year-old Georgian has not yet celebrated a victory in this young calendar year, Andy Murray was only stopped in the final at the preparatory tournament in Sydney.

Nikoloz Basilashvili – Statistics & current form

Since November 2016, the Eastern European can consistently call himself a member of the top 100 in the tennis world. He spent two years in the high double digits before winning his first ATP tournament (out of qualifying) by winning the title at Hamburg’s Rothenbaum in July 2018 and has never been ranked lower than 42nd since. He has since extended his title collection and the 29-year-old’s career includes five ATP tournament wins (as well as five Challenger titles).

2022 disappointing so far

In mid-October, he missed out on his biggest tournament success to date in the surprise final of the Masters at Indian Wells against Cameron Norrie. A bitter defeat that definitely left its mark. Back in Europe, things did not go according to plan either in Vienna (2nd round exit) or in Paris-Bercy (first round exit). This development could also be seen in the first days of the still young year 2022. At the ATP Cup in Sydney, the Georgian was not in full possession of his powers.

After the clear defeat against the Argentine Diego Sebastian Schwartzman (1:6 and 2:6), he was forced to retire in the second match against Stefanos Tsitsipas at 1:4. After a medical timeout (outside the court), he had to retire. Quite surprising, because there was no visible injury. Possibly a precautionary measure for the upcoming Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne.

No good experience at Melbourne

His experience at the first Grand Slam tournament of the year could not necessarily be described as positive. In 2016 he made his debut and since then he has always been in the main draw, but he only won five of his eleven matches at the “Happy Slam”. Twice he reached the third round (2018, 2019), but he has never made it further. Last season, he suffered a disappointing three-set exit against Tommy Paul.

Basilashvili and the Australian Open – a combination that has not borne fruit so far. After losing his opening match in Sydney last week (even though the performance was quite adequate), a success against the in-form Scot is not to be expected. Despite a significantly better world ranking, betting on the seed in Basilashvili vs. Murray is too risky.

Andy Murray – Statistics & current form

For Andy Murray, now 34, Tuesday’s match will be an extremely emotional return. On 14 January 2019, Murray once again left his heart on the court, throwing everything he could into the mix and after a tough battle, completely depleted, he had to concede defeat to Robert Bautista-Agut in five sets after trailing 2-0 in sets. It was the official end of the Scot’s career, who saw no way out due to his long-term hip problems. He left the court in tears – and thanks to an artificial hip he was able to revise his career end and can pursue his great passion again.

First final appearance since October 2019

Andy Murray doesn’t have to prove anything to any tennis fan, however, passion is his big drive. For that, he was not too shy to serve on the Challenger Tour again and again. The road back is extremely hard and rocky, but Murray’s will is irrepressible. Last weekend he finally proved that he is still capable of keeping up with the best. At the preparatory tournament in Sydney, he played his way into the final. It was Murray’s first final since October 2019, but he was beaten in two sets by Aslan Karatsev. Murray now holds 46 ATP titles, three of which he has won at a Grand Slam tournament.

He has failed to win a title in Melbourne so far, but with five appearances in the final (most recently in 2016), he has already proven his qualities many times. The wild card given to him by the organisers was therefore an obvious choice.

Murray will get the clear support on court because of his self-sacrificing style of play and comeback story. He will certainly not lack confidence after this strong week (including a win against service monster Opelka). There are no concerns about physical fitness, Murray has often shown he can push himself beyond the limits. Accordingly, the prediction for Basilashvili against Murray is recommended for the favourite’s victory.

Nikoloz Basilashvili – Andy Murray Direct comparison / H2H record

Head to Head: 0:2

A deja vu for the two professionals – because only last week there was also this duel in the second round of the ATP tournament in Sydney. The Scot Murray had to fight hard and lost the first set. The second set was only won in a tie-break by the favourite veteran, who was able to exploit the momentum in the third set and set the course for victory with a quick break. This was Murray’s second win in his second meeting with the Georgian, but he also lost a set in their first meeting (Wimbledon 2021).

Nikoloz Basilashvili – Andy Murray Tip

This duel is definitely one of the most interesting matches in the first round of the Australian Open 2022. Already last week, the two players put up a tough fight and also on Tuesday it is hard to imagine that the pendulum will swing clearly in favour of one player. Accordingly, it seems obvious to bet on many games in the match between Nikoloz Basilashvili and Andy Murray. Over 42.5 games sounds like a lot, but in Sydney there were two tiebreaks. Should this be the case again, this line could easily be reached even in four sets. A 2.48 seems quite interesting here.

The best tip recommendation, however, is to bet that the favoured Scot will prevail either 3:1 or 3:2.