Andy Murray pulled off a stunning victory over Matteo Berrettini at the Australian Open as the five-time runner-up enjoyed another big moment in Melbourne.

Unseeded this year, former world number one Murray survived a match point against him to take a first-round thriller against the Italian 13th seed.

Murray had not lost a grand slam match after winning the first two sets since a third-round clash against David Nalbandian at Wimbledon in 2005, his first grand slam main-draw appearance.

Yet he almost let such a lead slip away this time, before digging deep for a 6-3 6-3 4-6 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (10-6) victory, achieved in four hours and 49 minutes.

Five-time Australian Open runner-up Murray faced a daunting opener, but both men would have hoped for a kinder draw.

It seemed to be going firmly the 35-year-old Scot's way when he swept through the opening two sets, but back came Berrettini to level up, edging a tight fourth that could have gone either way.

Berrettini had the contest at his mercy at match point against Murray's serve at 5-4 in the decider, only to clatter a close-range backhand into the net when it seemed sure he would put away a winner.

The stakes were high as the match entered a final-set tie-break, and when Murray sped into a 5-0 lead he looked firmly in control. There were slight wobbles from that point, but Murray made sure, helped by a lucky net cord on match point as a service return trickled over.

"I didn't know that," Murray said afterwards, when told about his record when leading matches by two sets.

Berrettini lost his first meeting with Murray, which came in Beijing in 2019, but the Italian won all three of their next matches, on grass at London's Queen's Club and Stuttgart before a US Open victory last September.

Former Wimbledon and US Open winner Murray, still playing thanks to his metal hip, expects Tuesday's match on a scorching day in Melbourne to take a toll. 

"I'll be feeling this, this evening and tomorrow, but right now I'm unbelievably happy, very proud of myself," Murray said in an on-court interview.

"I've put a lot of work into the last few months with my team who are here to give me an opportunity to perform on stadiums like this and matches like this, against players like Matteo, and it paid off tonight."

Extreme heat stopped play on day two at the Australian Open as tournament chiefs stopped play on all courts without a roof due to soaring temperatures.

By the middle of the afternoon on Tuesday, the tournament's heat stress scale had reached 5, the point at which play has to be suspended.

Matches were allowed to continue through to the end of an even number of games in a set, or the end of a tie-break, before players left the court.

It led to an interruption of around two hours on all courts without a roof.

The tournament's heat policy takes account of radiant heat – the strength of the sun – plus air temperature in the shade, relative humidity and wind speed.

An initial warning of what might be set to happen came when the tournament delivered a first weather report, stating: "At 1:12pm the AO heat stress scale reached 4 and the heat policy came into play.

"This means singles players can take a 10-minute break – women between the second and third set and men between the third and fourth set of their matches. Players have the option of staying on court or using showers or cooling rooms."

Less than two hours later came confirmation play would have to stop, except for those courts where the players had shade thanks to a roof.

The tournament announced: "The AO heat stress scale has reached 5 and play will be suspended on the outside courts. There will be no play on outside courts before 5pm."

Andy Murray's gripping first-round match against Matteo Berrettini on Rod Laver Arena, the main show court, was able to continue due to that show court's roof, while play also continued on Margaret Court Arena and John Cain Arena.

American Taylor Fritz, used to playing in high heat in his native California, said he did not find conditions too oppressive.

His match on John Cain Arena began without a roof, before it was closed to allow play to go on.

"It's hot, but it's dry heat, so I don't really mind it too much," said Fritz, a dark horse for the title this year.

"Playing in D.C. last year, US Open some years, is much worse because it's so hot, plus the humidity. When it's like today, it's not that humid. I don't think it's as bad.

"As long as it's this dry type of heat, then it's not that big of a deal. If it was this hot plus humidity, then it might be an issue. It would be pretty annoying to deal with."

Nine-time champion Novak Djokovic will make his return to the Australian Open against Spain's world number 75 Roberto Carballes Baena.

After being deported from Australia last year amid a row over his refusal of a COVID-19 vaccination, Djokovic is firmly back in favour and chasing history in Melbourne, with a record-equalling 22nd men's singles grand slam in his sights.

He begins against an opponent who in four previous main draw appearances has only ever won one singles match at Melbourne Park.

Defending champion Rafael Nadal, whose 22 slam titles Djokovic is seeking to match, has a tricky opener against rising British star Jack Draper, the world number 40.

Second seed Casper Ruud will tackle Czech Tomas Machac first up, with the 115th-ranked player unlikely to prove too daunting an obstacle for last season's French Open and US Open runner-up.

Fifth seed Andrey Rublev could face an awkward assignment against wildcard and former US Open winner Dominic Thiem, while Australia's Nick Kyrgios begins against Russian Roman Safiullin.

Neither 13th seed Matteo Berrettini nor five-time runner-up Andy Murray would have been delighted to be paired together, but that is what happened in Thursday's draw.

In the women's singles, top seed Iga Swiatek starts her bid for a first Australian Open title against Germany's Jule Niemeier, who caught the eye last year on a run to the Wimbledon quarter-finals.

American seventh seed Coco Gauff starts against Czech Katerina Siniakova, while Jessica Pegula, Gauff's third-seeded compatriot who recently beat Swiatek in the United Cup, will face Belgian Jaqueline Cristian.

Gauff could face former US Open winner Emma Raducanu in the second round. Unseeded Briton Raducanu starts against Germany's Tamara Korpatsch.

Former champions Sofia Kenin and Victoria Azarenka go head to head in the first round, with American Kenin unseeded this year and Belarusian Azarenka the 24th seed.

Azarenka's compatriot Aryna Sabalenka is fancied to do well, having banished last year's serving yips, and the fifth seed starts against Czech Tereza Martincova.

Tunisian second seed Ons Jabeur, runner-up at Wimbledon and the US Open, begins her latest quest for an elusive grand slam title against Slovenian world number 88 Tamara Zidansek.

Former US Open winner Bianca Andreescu is unseeded in Australia and Czech 25th seed Marie Bouzkova drew a possible short straw by getting the Canadian in round one.

Michael Smith considered himself darts' equivalent of Andy Murray after beating Michael van Gerwen to land his maiden world title triumph.

The 32-year-old claimed a 7-4 victory in Tuesday's thrilling PDC World Championship final at Alexandra Palace in London, which included a perfect nine-dart leg in the second set.

Smith, who had lost eight successive major finals before his breakthrough triumph at the Grand Slam of Darts in November, is now the world number one as a result of his victory.

He is just the 11th winner of the tournament in its 30-year history, with Phil Taylor having won it 14 times prior to his retirement in 2018.

And Smith believes there are parallels to tennis star Murray's memorable 2012 US Open final win against Novak Djokovic – his first of three grand slam triumphs after four final defeats.

"I'm like the Andy Murray of darts," Smith told Sky Sports. "He has come through with these three amazing players in [Roger] Federer, [Rafael] Nadal and Djokovic.

"He managed to get Queen's and then won the US Open, Wimbledon, and Wimbledon again, and he had to work hard for that. 

"I know he got to world number one and then, unluckily for him, he had his injuries, although it didn't cost him his career as he's still playing now."

Five different players have now had their name on darts' biggest trophy in the past six years, with Peter Wright the only multiple winner in that period. 

"Back in the day it was Phil Taylor and someone who pushed him," Smith said. "Barney [Raymond van Barneveld] was there, Adie [Adrian Lewis] pushed him for a bit as well. 

"Then Michael [Van Gerwen] came along, then you've got Gary Anderson, Peter Wright and Gez [Gerwyn Price].

"You've got really unbelievable players where anyone in the top 32 can win a TV title and it's not just Phil Taylor dominating the sport. The sport is wide open now, which is good."

Smith averaged 100.71 across the 11 sets, with that the highest in the World Championship final since Van Gerwen's 102.88 three years ago when losing to Wright (102.79).

Novak Djokovic took just an hour and 15 minutes to win his first singles match in Australia since 2021, beating Constant Lestienne 6-3 6-2 at the Adelaide International on Tuesday.

Djokovic – who saw a three-year visa ban lifted in November – played with Vasek Pospisil in the doubles on Monday, but this was his first singles outing in the country since his vaccine-related absence from last year's Australian Open.

"For the first match [of the season] I can't complain," Djokovic said. "I played very well. I thought the first six games were very competitive and I have never faced him before.

"But once I made that break at 3-2 in the first set I thought I stepped it up and played really good tennis for the rest of the match."

Elsewhere in Adelaide, third seed Daniil Medvedev advanced after Lorenzo Sonego retired hurt with the Russian leading by a set, while sixth seed Jannik Sinner eased past Kyle Edmund 6-3 6-2.

Seventh seed Denis Shapovalov is also through after coming from a set down to beat Rinky Hijikata, but fourth seed Andrey Rublev is out after losing to Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets.

The Spaniard will face Sebastian Korda next after he beat Andy Murray 7-6 (7-3) 6-3, while eighth seed Karen Khachanov advanced after beating Pedro Cachin 6-2 6-4. 

At the Maharashtra Open in Pune, Aslan Karatsev had no problems seeing off Pablo Andujar 6-1 6-3, with the eighth seed set to face Tim van Rijthoven in the last 16 after the Dutchman beat Radu Albot 6-4 6-4.

There were also wins for Maximilian Marterer against Elias Ymer and Pedro Martinez against Ramkumar Ramanathan.

Andy Murray has conceded he is just one major injury from being forced to retire, though the three-time grand slam winner remains keen to play on.

Murray underwent two hip surgeries in 2018 and 2019, causing him to spend much of the last four years on the sidelines.

However, Murray returned to the top 50 of the world rankings after making two tour-level finals in 2022, while his run to the third round of the US Open represented his joint-best grand slam campaign since Wimbledon 2017.

The two-time Wimbledon champion saw rival Roger Federer retire from the sport in September after struggling with a knee injury, and while he acknowledges fitness concerns could force his hand, Murray is not yet looking to follow suit.

"If my body is in good shape and I'm still able to compete consistently, I'll keep playing," Murray said.

"But I can't look so far in advance with the age I'm at and with the issues I've had. If I was to have a big injury, I probably wouldn't try to come back from that."

Murray has been training with coach Ivan Lendl in a bid to ensure he enters next month's Australian Open in peak condition, having missed three of the last five editions of the tournament.

"I spent three weeks in Florida, getting my body right and getting some work done on my game and it went really well," he said.

"I'm certainly in better shape than I was. A lot of work was done in the gym, trying to build up my endurance and my stamina a bit and I'm hoping that's going to help me next year.

"I wasn't happy with how last season went – certainly the last six months or so from a physical perspective – but my ranking still went from 125 to 50 in a year. 

"I'm hoping that this year, with the work I've done, things will continue to improve and I'll still be motivated to get out there and compete."

Andy Murray has been named the winner of the ATP's Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award for the second time after he donated his prize money for 2022 to Ukraine.

The Briton announced in March that his winnings earned throughout the rest of the year would be donated to UNICEF, for whom he is an ambassador.

Ukraine was invaded by neighbour Russia in February, escalating an ongoing conflict that saw players from the latter nation barred at Wimbledon this year amid sanctions.

After previously being presented with the honour in 2014, Murray revealed earnings of approximately £510,000 would be donated from his season.

"There are 7.5 million children in Ukraine and after more than nine months of increased conflict, 5.2 million of them are in need of assistance," he said. 

"When you see images of children on the news who were impacted by things like this, that makes it even more difficult to stomach.

"I have four young children who are really fortunate that everything is fine with them. But being a parent, it affects you differently.

"You try to put yourself in their shoes. If something like that happened with your own family, how difficult would that be? It is hard to fathom."

Carlos Alcaraz was meanwhile named the Most Improved Player of the Year, after the Spaniard claimed a maiden grand slam at the US Open and reached number one in the ATP Rankings.

"Everything has come so fast," the teenager added. "I didn't think at the beginning of the year that I'm going to have the year that I'm having right now.

"I always believe in my team and in my work, so this is something that came with the hard work that I put in every day. Everything pays off."

Jannik Sinner and Marin Cilic were the two most notable first-round losers at the Paris Masters, where Taylor Fritz kept his slim ATP Finals hopes alive on Monday.

World number 12 Sinner, the 11th seed in the French capital this week, suffered a straight-sets loss to Marc-Andrea Huesler, as did 15th favourite Cilic against Lorenzo Musetti.

Ninth seed Fritz downed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-5 6-2, with Cameron Norrie and Frances Tiafoe also recording straight-sets victories against Miomir Kecmanovic and Lorenzo Sonego respectively.

Victory for Fritz kept the American in the hunt for qualifying for November's ATP Finals in Turin for the first time, needing to reach the final in Paris to overtake Felix Auger-Aliassime or Andrey Rublev.

"Right now I'm just focused on kind of playing myself into the tournament," said Fritz. "I feel like any time this year that I've won a couple of matches in a tournament, then I've done well.

"So I'll just try to focus on these early rounds. Turin is still in the picture, obviously, but there's not much else I really could have done.

"Felix has played really, really well, so he deserves it, but I am going to try to steal his spot this week for sure."

Home favourite Gilles Simon awaits Fritz in the second round at the ATP 1000 event after defeating Andy Murray 4-6 7-5 6-3.

Alexander Bublik and Mikael Ymer played out another three-set battle, with the former triumphing 6-1 6-7 (2-7) 6-4.

Richard Gasquet, Yoshihito Nishioka, Karen Khachanov, Maxime Cressy, Nikoloz Basilashvili and John Isner were the other first-round winners on the opening day in France.

Stefanos Tsitsipas crashed out of the Vienna Open after losing in a dramatic third-set tie-break against Borna Coric, who claimed his third successive win over the Greek ace.

The second seed was the highest-profile casualty in the Austrian capital on Thursday, as he succumbed to the Croatian once more 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-4).

Coric rescued six match points before stunning Tsitsipas at the 2020 US Open, while he also triumphed when they collided in the Cincinnati showpiece in August.

The world number 27's chances of completing a hat-trick of victories appeared bleak at a set and break down, but he rallied to force a decider that went the distance, before holding his nerve for another notable win.

Coric's reward is a quarter-final clash with Hubert Hurkacz, who boosted his chances of qualifying for next month's ATP Finals with a 7-5 4-6 6-3 win over Emil Ruusuvuori.

Daniil Medvedev advanced to the last eight after a 6-3 6-3 victory over home favourite Dominic Thiem. Next up for the top seed is Jannik Sinner after the Italian saw off Francisco Cerundolo 7-5 6-3.

Third seed Andrey Rublev's ATP Finals hopes were dented after a 6-3 6-4 defeat by Grigor Dimitrov, who will play Marcos Giron after the American overcame seventh seed Cameron Norrie in straight sets.

Over in Basel, third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime required just 49 minutes to complete a commanding 6-1 6-0 rout of Miomir Kecmanovic for his 10th straight ATP win.

Meanwhile, Stockholm champion Holger Rune continued his momentum by recording a seventh straight victory after seeing off Ugo Humbert 6-4 6-2.

Sixth seed Roberto Bautista Agut enjoyed a straight-sets win over three-time grand slam champion Andy Murray to set up a clash with home favourite Stan Wawrinka, who outlasted Brandon Nakashima in a deciding set.

Stan Wawrinka rolled back the years for a glorious victory over Casper Ruud at the Swiss Indoors, joining fellow veteran Andy Murray in putting on a show in Basel.

Former world number one Murray pulled off a remarkable win over Russian Roman Safiullin, winning five games in a row from 4-1 behind in the final set.

But that was just a tease for the excitement that followed, as Wawrinka, who like Murray won three grand slam titles in his prime, felled second seed Ruud in straight sets.

The 37-year-old Swiss delighted his home crowd with a 6-4 6-4 victory over this season's French Open and US Open runner-up, serving nine aces as he defied a world ranking of 194th to produce some of his old magic.

Murray has fallen away from the elite ,too, but at 49th in the world he is not far away from rejoining that pack, although defeat looked to be beckoning against Safiullin.

The 35-year-old Scot fist-pumped with relief at recovering the break of serve that Safiullin snatched early in the decider, and Murray hit a service winner on his second match point to seal a 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-4 success.

The victory for two-time Wimbledon winner Murray took him to 26 wins this season, the most he has had in a single campaign since pulling off an astounding 78 victories in 2016, the year he won at the All England Club for a second time, landed a second Olympic gold medal and finished top of the rankings.

Murray said of his win: "As the match went on, I started to dictate a few more points and served better."

Quoted on the ATP website, he added: "I changed the way I was returning a little bit, and when I did that, I was able to create a few more opportunities and frustrate him a little bit."

Pablo Carreno Busta scored a 6-2 6-1 win against Argentinian Sebastian Baez, with Alex Molcan, Dominic Stricker and Botic van de Zandschulp also advancing to the last-16 stage.

At the Vienna Open, Murray's fellow British players Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans both went through to the second round, Norrie beating Argentina's Pedro Cachin 3-6 6-2 7-6 (7-1) and Evans fending off Germany's Oscar Otte 6-4 7-6 (7-3).

Canadian left-hander Denis Shapovalov beat Austrian wildcard Jurij Rodionov, but the home crowd had something to celebrate when former US Open champion Dominic Thiem continued his resurgence by eking out a 2-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (8-6) victory against American Tommy Paul, saving two match points.

Andy Murray's run at the Gijon Open came to an end with a three-set loss to Sebastian Korda on Friday, dashing his hopes of a semi-final appearance in Spain.

Murray earned his fourth Tour-level quarter-final spot of 2022 by beating Pedro Cachin, but American Korda defeated the former world number one 6-4 1-6 6-1.

Korda will face Arthur Rinderknech in the last four after he upset second seed Pablo Carreno Busta, taking an epic final-set tie-break to triumph 4-6 6-3 7-6 (18-16).

The other side of the draw will play host to an enticing semi-final meeting between Dominic Thiem and top seed Andrey Rublev after they secured straight-sets wins over Francisco Cerundolo and Tommy Paul respectively.

Thiem said after his 6-4 6-3 triumph over Cerundolo: "From the first match on, I have felt great on this court.

"It is very important for me as I am trying to climb up the rankings. The semi-finals at an ATP event is helping a lot."

Meanwhile, top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Brandon Nakashima 6-3 6-4 to reach the Firenze Open semi-finals, where he will face home favourite Lorenzo Musetti.

The third seed from Italy downed Mackenzie McDonald 6-3 6-2, but fellow seed Alexander Bublik went down 3-6 7-5 6-1 to J. J. Wolf.

Andy Murray overturned a first-set deficit to defeat Pedro Cachin gripping 2-6 7-5 7-6 (7-3) and book his spot in the quarter-finals of the Gijon Open.

The three-time grand slam champion lost a 56-minute opening set but showing his trademark doggedness to defeat his Argentine opponent and earn a fourth Tour-level last-eight berth of the season.

It sets the Briton up with a last-eight encounter against Sebastian Korda after the unseeded American delivered the upset of the day to knock out third seed and home favourite Roberto Bautista Agut in a 5-7 6-4 6-4 triumph.

Elsewhere, first seed Andrey Rublev saw off a fightback from Ilya Ivashka to also book his place in the quarter-finals, with his reward a tie against Tommy Paul.

At the Firenze Open, top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime saw off a second set scare from Germany's Oscar Otte, with the Canadian ultimately triumphing 6-4 6-7 (2-7) 6-2.

He will meet eighth seed Brandon Nakashima, who ran out comfortably in straight sets against Altug Celikbilek with a 6-3 6-4 win.

Third seed Lorenzo Musetti also made smooth work on his own turf, with a 6-3 6-0 demolition job against Bernabe Zapata Miralles, to set up an encounter in the last eight with Mackenzie McDonald.

Andy Murray recovered from a break down in the first set to surge into the second round of the Gijon Open with victory over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

The three-time grand slam champion trailed 4-2 and 30-40 in the opener, but he saved break point with a brilliant volley before going on to hold and take command.

Murray won 10 of the next 13 games thereafter to claim a 7-5 6-2 win, and the former world number one felt Davidovich Fokina's frustration played a key role in the turnaround.

"In the first set, he was playing much better than me," said Murray, seeking his first ATP Tour title since prevailing in Antwerp in 2019.

"He had a lot of chances to get the second break of serve, and I managed to stay tough in those moments. At the 4-3 game, he played a bad game to give me the break back, and after that I started to play a little bit better.

"I think he was a bit frustrated, and then in the second set his level dropped a little bit, but the end of the first set was very important because he was playing very well and it was a difficult first set."

Murray will face either Pedro Cachin or qualifier Alexey Vatutin in the second round. Davidovich Fokina's fellow Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Albert Ramos-Vinolas lost to Ilya Ivashka and Marcos Giron respectively. There was victory for one home hope, though, as Nicolas Alvarez Varona moved into round two.

At the Firenze Open, Alexander Bublik secured his 100th Tour-level win with a straight-sets victory over Cristian Garin, while Mikael Ymer thrashed Tim van Rijthoven 6-1 6-2.

Oscar Otte and Brandon Nakashima were also victors in Florence on Tuesday.

Roger Federer said he felt the pain of Team Europe's first Laver Cup defeat as the World team crashed the Swiss great's farewell party in breathtaking style.

The final event of Federer's playing career veered off the script as he and Rafael Nadal lost in doubles on Friday, before the team collectively succumbed to a 13-8 defeat in London.

Stunning singles wins for Felix Auger-Aliassime and Frances Tiafoe on Sunday, against Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas respectively, followed a doubles thriller that saw Auger-Aliassime and Jack Sock topple Andy Murray and Matteo Berrettini.

After Team Europe won the first four editions of the Laver Cup, this time they had to swallow the bitter pill of defeat, with Federer sorry to sign off on a losing note.

"Of course I'm disappointed," he said. "I was on the team. I almost lost my voice. My hands hurt from clapping.

"So, yes, I am disappointed. We wish the result would be different. I told Andy [Murray] in the locker room, I don't like losing. It's not fun. It just leaves not the best taste, you know. I think once you have been there and taste success, it's just not the same."

He said his goodbye tournament had been a mix of highs and lows.

"This weekend has been all over the place for me," said the 41-year-old Swiss. "I enjoyed it, but it's unfortunate that we couldn't get the win tonight."

Federer denied he has his eyes set on becoming the next Team Europe captain. Incumbent skipper Bjorn Borg and Team World counterpart John McEnroe have indicated next year's match could be the last that they helm, which would create an appealing vacancy.

"No plans there. Bjorn's doing a great job," said Federer. "Who knows, maybe one day, but we don't have any plans so far."

Next year's match takes place in Vancouver, and Federer will certainly have a role of some sort to play, given he is a co-founder of the event.

"I went through all different types of Laver Cups so far: the first one, the winning teams, now this time on the losing team," Federer said. "There was also one where I was hurt last year but seeing it more from the stands and from the fans' perspective, and now deep on the inside with retirement.

"I have enjoyed the Laver Cup in many different ways, and next year again will be totally different. I'm looking forward to it, and I'm sure Vancouver is going to be fantastic."

Asked what he would miss about tennis, Federer said: "Not the losing press conferences, I tell you that. They are the worst."

Andy Murray insists he is not thinking about retirement following Roger Federer's emotional farewell, and declared he would not deserve anything on a similar scale.

The Briton was on hand for the 20-time grand slam champion's final bow at the Laver Cup on Friday, with both men competing as part of Team Europe.

Federer exited with a doubles defeat, partnering old rival Rafael Nadal, while Novak Djokovic also featured, to mark a tournament reunion for the one-time 'Big Four' of men's tennis.

Injuries and slowing form for Murray saw that moniker slip to the 'Big Three' as Murray faded, and the former world number one says he certainly does not feel worthy of the acclaim afforded to the 41-year-old Federer.

"I certainly won't and don't deserve to have a send-off like that," Murray said, after he and Matteo Berrettini lost their doubles clash to Felix Auger-Aliassime and Jack Sock on Sunday.

"Roger did deserve that night. I'm not going to have a farewell match like that. I probably would announce when I'm going to play my last event, but when that is, I don't know."

Murray was adamant he would not be bowing out just yet, however, stating that Federer's retirement had not got him mulling over whether it is time to hang up the racket too.

"I'm really not thinking about that right now," Murray said. "I'm still playing competitive tennis and physically feeling good against top players.

"I just need to start really turning some of these tight losses and close matches into wins. It's as simple as that."

A three-time grand slam winner, Murray is the only men's singles player in history to have two Olympic gold medals, having won titles at London 2012 and Rio 2016 – the latter in the year he also won the ATP Tour Finals as well as Wimbledon for a second time.