AUSSIE HORROR SHOW AS BRITISH STARS CRASH OUT

MURRAY BEATEN IN STRAIGHT SETS WHILE RADUCANU STRUGGLES WITH HAND BLISTER ON HER WAY TO DEFEAT

- Matt Majendie

ON NEIGHBOURING courts at the Australian Open, the old and new of British tennis both succumbed to the same fate deep into the Melbourne night.

First, Andy Murray, appearing at his 14th Australian Open, was knocked out in straight sets by Taro Daniel. Then tournament debutant Emma Raducanu, seemingly curtailed by heavy blisters on her right hand, bowed out in three tight sets to Danka Kovinic 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

And so a day which begun with high expectations ended with just one Briton left in either main draw. Dan Evans’ passage into the third round came without a ball being struck as his opponent, Arthur Rinderknech, pulled out before the match, while Heather Watson joined Raducanu in exiting as she lost 7-6, 6-4 to No29 seed Tamara Zidansek.

Murray is no stranger to Australian Open heartache and, three years after his last appearance in Melbourne, his tournament came to a premature end.

Five times a beaten finalist, Murray stepped off court in 2019 after a firstround defeat thinking his career was quite conceivably at an end.