"Messi is the man" - Andy Murray, Victoria Azarenka and tennis world reacts to Lionel Messi's glorious performance against Australia in FIFA World Cup

Andy Murray has waxed lyrical about Lionel Messi after the 35-year-old rolled back the years in a virtuoso performance in Argentina's 2-1 win over Australia in a Round of 16 clash at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Messi led from the front, opening the scoring for La Albiceleste in the 35th minute by rolling the ball past a bevy of Australian defenders and past the despairing dive of the goalkeeper. That marked the first time the PSG ace has scored in the World Cup knockouts.

After Julian Alvarez doubled Argentina's lead 12 minutes into the second half, Australia reduced arrears 13 minutes from time through an Enzo Fernandez own goal. Messi then weaved his way past the Australian defence to set up Lautaro Martinez, only for the Inter Milan man to fire wastefully over. Nevertheless, the Albiceleste hung on to reach the World Cup last eight for the first time in eight years.

Andy Murray was one of many tennis personalities who lauded Messi's performance, tweeting:

"Messi is the man."

WTA star Victoria Azarenka also went gaga on Messi's magical performance, tweeting:

"Meeeeeeeeeeesssssssssiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii"

Messi's compatriot Juan Martin Del Potro replied to Azarenka's tweet, urging the Ukrainian to 'keep doing the same'.

"Come on Vika!! Keep doing the same."

Former American tennis player and current coach Patrick McEnroe chimed in:

"Extra-Ordinary"

The reward for Argentina now is a last-eight clash with the Netherlands on Friday (December 9), in a rematch of the 2014 semifinals. The Albiceleste won on penalties on that occasion before losing to Germany by a solitary goal in the final.

Meanwhile, Messi has had a spectacular World Cup, registering three goals and two assists. He's now the first player to assist in five different editions of the competition. In the win against Mexico, Messi became the oldest player to score and assist in the same World Cup game, 16 long years (against Serbia & Montenegro) after he had become the youngest to achieve the feat.

If Argentina reach the final, Messi will break Lothar Mattheus' record for most World Cup games (25) by a player. The Argentine needs one goal to equal Gabriel Batistuta's record of most World Cup goals for Argentina (10) and two assists to go level with Diego Maradona's feat of most World Cup assists (10) for La Albiceleste.

---

Andy Murray's 2022 season highlights

Andy Murray had a decent, if not spectacular, 2022 campaign, registering a 26-19 win-loss record. The three-time Grand Slam winner reached the finals in Sydney and Stuttgart but fell short on both occasions.

The World No. 46 reached the second round at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, and the third round at the US Open. Murray played in the Laver Cup at the O2 in London, where Team World lost the event for the first time.

The Scot closed his season with an opening-round defeat to Gilles Simon at the Paris-Bercy Masters.