Andy Murray at Australian Open 2019: What time does he start, what TV channel is it on and will this be his last match before retirement?
What is it?
Andy Murray vs Roberto Bautista Agut in the Australian Open. It is a first round match in the men's singles of the 2019 Australian Open in which Murray, double Wimbledon winner, former US Open champion, double Olympic gold medal winner and five times a runner-up at Melbourne takes on Spain's No22 seed Bautista Agut.
When is it?
Today: Monday, January 14 in Melbourne.
What time does it start?
Andy Murray has been scheduled to be fourth on in the Melbourne Arena court on day one, meaning we will not see him start before 7am GMT, or 6pm local time.
What TV channel is it on?
It's on Eurosport in the UK and can be streamed on the Eurosport Player. We will also be delivering live coverage throughout the match right here, so you won't miss a moment.
Will this be Andy Murray's final match before retirement?
On Friday the unseeded Murray was asked whether after 18 months of injury trouble and gruelling recovery from hip surgery whether this could be his last tournament, he said: "Yeah, I think there’s a chance of that for sure. Because I am not sure I am going to be able to play through the pain for the next four or five months."
His ambition remains to bow out at Wimbledon later this year, but all depends on how his hip holds up. It is unlikely the Brit will make an immediate decision after Monday's match.
What is the latest news?
Andy Murray will leave the sport as more than just a sporting figure, the Briton's former coach Amelie Mauresmo said on Sunday.
Murray, 31, said on Friday that this year's Australian Open could be his last professional tournament, although the former world number one hopes he can bow out at his beloved Wimbledon.
The three-time grand slam champion has emerged as a feminist figure in tennis, notably hiring Frenchwoman Mauresmo as his coach from 2014-16.
"He is a champion reaching beyond his sport, especially by taking steps forward on the gender equality topic," former world number one Mauresmo told French sports daily L'Equipe.
"(Taking me as a coach) was not a PR thing. It was a profound conviction he had from his education, his open-mindedness.
"He is not afraid of his own sensitiveness, on the contrary. To me, he has been undervalued as a man, not as a tennis player."
Murray broke down on Friday when he told a news conference that the severe pain from his troublesome right hip had become almost unbearable for him to play on.
Reuters
What's the head to head?
Murray has won all three of their previous meetings in straight sets - in the Round of 32 at Wimbledon in 2014, in the semi-final at Munich a year later and in the final of the 2016 Shanghai Masters.
What are they saying?
Andy Murray focused on his injury and impending retirement but confirmed he would play:
"In the middle to the end of December in my training block, I spoke to my team, and I told them, ‘I cannot keep doing this.’ I needed to have an end point because I was playing with no idea when the pain was going to stop. I felt like making that decision. I said to my team, ‘Look, I think I can get through this until Wimbledon. That’s where I would like to stop playing.’ But I am not certain I am able to do that.
"Yes, I am going to play. I can still play to a level, but not a level I am happy playing at. "
Bautista Agut has not spoken specifically about the draw but said after winning last week's Qatar Open: "It's been a fantastic week for me. Today it was not easy to manage all the emotions I had on court."
"Why can I not be close to the top 10? he said and said his aim was to turn up at Melbourne "fresh" and win as many matches as he can.
What are the odds?
Murray 7/2
Bautista Agut 1/5
What's our prediction?
Looks like the end of the road for the great Scot, beaten by time and his agonising hip injury ... and by his opponent on Monday.
