Emma Raducanu and Andy Murray each pocket £75k despite Australian Open defeats

Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu will be able to afford a few more strawberries and cream each after pocketing £75,000 apiece for their Australian Open exploits.

The two biggest names in British tennis both collected huge sums of money despite disappointing second-round exits.

Murray, who has reached the Australian Open final on five occasions, crashed out in straight sets to Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel.

The Scotsman lost 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to Daniel – ranked below him at 120 in the world – in two hours and 49 minutes.

Britain's No.3 appeared to lack energy from the start, no doubt in part due to his gruelling five-set epic against 21st seed Nikoloz Basilashvili on Tuesday.

He gave a disconsolate look after Daniel secured victory with a sublime backhand volley.

While the two-time Wimbledon winner went off court shaking his head, Daniel was understandably delighted.

"Winning a big match like this is unbelievable," said Daniel.

"It was an amazing level from me, I was getting nervous in the third set.

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"I tried not to make a big deal about this – everyone said I was playing Murray – but I tried to treat it like another match."

Even in defeat, Murray's career prize money rose from £75,000 to £45.87million.

2021 US Open winner Raducanu has a long way to go to match those numbers, but like Murray, she pocketed £75,000 for her second-round exit to Danka Kovinic.

The 19-year-old was a big favourite coming into the match against world no. 98 but was hampered by a blister on her hand and was knocked out in three sets.

Raducanu showed resilience beyond her years to fight back and win the second set before eventually bowing out 4-6, 6-4, 4-6 on the Margaret Court Arena.

"It was a really nice experience to play Emma here and make the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time after many years," said Kovinic.

"Emma has had amazing results, winning a Grand Slam at such a young age. She is an amazing talent. I'm just so happy I could play such a high level.

"I was a little bit low in my energy through the third set so I tried to focus on myself, not show much emotion and save my energy."

Like Murray, Raducanu's earnings enjoyed a tiny bump as a result of her performance Down Under.

The Toronto-born British star has now earned £2.1million to date from her tennis career.

Most of that figure comes from her US Open win, which saw Raducanu pocket a cool £1.8million.

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