Australian Open Day 1 - Murray Rolls Back Years In Glorious Defeat - Perfect Goodbye, Or A Stepping Stone To Wimbledon?

We thought we’d seen it all from Andy Murray, but in what could be his final ever match, he left us spellbound once more.

On The Tennis Podcast, David Law and Catherine Whitaker discuss one of the most extraordinary opening days in Grand Slam history, as Murray produced a rousing comeback in a match of unrivalled poignancy and significance. It wasn’t quite enough for him to beat Roberto Bautista-Agut, but it provided hours of compelling drama. What were David and Catherine feeling as they watched Murray look like Murray again?

They also consider his possible next steps. Have we really seen the last of Murray? What was he like in press? Was this match the perfect send off?

It was a day of mixed fortunes for the other six Brits in action. Harriet Dart lost 0-6, 0-6 to Maria Sharapova. Was that a harsh scoreline or did it reflect the match? Since when has Katie Boulter been capable of the gritty, aggressive tennis that saw her beat Ekaterina Makarova? And what about Dan Evans? Catherine’s description of his victory over Tatsuma Ito is not to be missed.

There’s also excitement over wins for Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari, an analysis of Rafael Nadal’s performance, and David discovers the day’s handshake controversy.

The Tennis Podcast will be produced daily throughout the Australian Open (and at all the Slams) after our Kickstarter was funded by our listeners. It is produced in association with The Telegraph.

Our Crowdfunding Kickstarter closes at midnight UK today, so you have a few hours to do your bit and get your name on our backers page, intro a show or take on Catherine and David on at their year's predictions - http://po.st/TP_Kickstarter2019

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