Andy Murray’s elimination in the fourth round of the 2017 Australian Open means it is the first time since the 2004 French Open that the top two seeds in the draw for the men’s singles Grand Slam tournament have failed to make the quarter-final stage.
Murray was beaten by world No. 50 Mischa Zverev to deny him the opportunity to lift the trophy in Melbourne for the first time in his career after finishing runner-up on five different occasions. It is only the second time the British player has fallen before the last eight in his last 25 Grand Slam appearances.
The world No. 1 lost the opening set 5-7 but looked to have taken control of the match when he sealed the second set 7-5 to level the match. Zverev, who picked up the biggest win of his career, dominated the third set 6-3 where he over overpowered Murray, while he sealed the victory with a 6-4 scoreline in the final set. The German, however then lost to 17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer in the quarter-final in Melbourne after the former world number beat number five seed Kei Nishikori.
Although Murray would have been very disappointed with his exit in the Australian Open, he still went two stages further than his rival Novak Djokovic. The Serbian was eliminated in the second round by qualifier Denis Istomin who is 117th in the world rankings.
Murray and Djokovic both falling early leaves the Australian Open wide open and a great opportunity for the No. 3 seed Milos Raonic, who was tipped up by Oddschecker to win the tournament, to win his maiden Grand Slam title this month, while Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka will fancy their chances of improving their tally in the big four events.
The results in Melbourne go to show the top two players aren’t going to have it all their own way in 2017. They will now have time to work on their game before the next Grand Slam in May when they travel to Paris to take part in the French Open at Roland Garros.
With the absence of an ATP Masters event in February, the top two stars of the sport are unlikely to play too much tennis next month. They could appear at the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, Netherlands and/or the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship which carries 500 ranking points.
The next two big tournaments on the men’s calendar are in March, when the world’s best players arrive in the USA. Firstly they are in action at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California and then they travel across to the east coast to feature in the Miami Open. Djokovic was successful in both of those tournaments in 2016 as he dominated the early stages of the season on the hard courts.
The winner of the Australian Open could emerge as a serious threat to Murray and Djokovic in 2017 but both men are likely to return with something to prove which could signal bad news for the rest of the players on the ATP Tour.
