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2019 Brisbane International Men's singles, first round Pat Rafter Arena, Queensland Tennis Centre James Duckworth vs Andy Murray |
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A match with huge potential for an upset headlines the Day 2 action on centre court at the Brisbane International as Australian James Duckworth faces the returning Andy Murray. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from around 2pm (AEDT).
Both of these players are ranked outside the 200, but firmly planted on the comeback trail after struggling with injuries.
Murray, who is a former grand slam champion, has had a lot of time off in the last 12 months, but is firmly on the comeback trail now after some less than promising results rounded out his 2018 season.
After a second-round exit at the US Open, he played some hard court tournaments on the Asian swing, but again struggled to find any consistency or rhythm in his game due to injury problems.
Duckworth, on the other hand, also struggled last year. After the Aussie summer, where he was eliminated in the second round of Australian Open qualifying, he wasn’t sighted again until he used a protected ranking for a first-round exit at the French Open and another for a first-round exit at Wimbledon.
He was able to play more regular tournaments following Wimbledon, but it was with mixed results. The best was a third-round appearance in Washington and a victory at the Cary Challenger tournament.
His last matches of 2018 were the ones which might kick start his 2019 though, as he won the Australian Open wildcard tournament, beating Blake Ellis, Rinky Hijikata, Maverick Barnes and Luke Saville in five-set tennis. His body held up well during the demanding schedule, and if that sort of form continues in 2019, he could scare some good players.
The bottom line is that both of these players are better than their current ranking suggests, so we could be in for a bit of an epic scrap between the two this afternoon.
The pair have had one previous meeting, coming during the 2018 US Open when Murray took four sets to beat Duckworth after dropping the first.
Prediction
Duckworth has match form on his side, but Murray has the class and defensive game to grind his way through. If the troublesome hip is okay, he should get the job done in a grinding performance.
Murray in three sets.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of the match from 2pm (AEDT) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.
Start time: 2pm (AEDT)
Venue: Pat Rafter Arena, Queensland Tennis Centre
TV: Live, Nine Network
Online: Live, 9Now
Betting: Murray $1.29, Duckworth $3.64
Overall record: Played 1, Murray 1, Duckworth 0
Last meeting: 2018 US Open 1st Round – Murray defeat Duckworth 6-7, 6-3, 7-5, 6-3
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