Andy Murray on Monday suffered a crushing defeat in the first round of Australian Open at the hands of Argentine Tomas Etcheverry. Murray crashed out of the year’s first Grand Slam in straight sets, losing 6-4 6-2 6-2 in two hours and 23 minutes.
It was only Murray’s second Grand Slam opening-round loss in 16 attempts as the 36-year old Scot laboured at the Kia Arena. Murray’s only other first-round loss here since 2008 was five years ago in a five-setter against against Roberto Bautista Agut.
From the get-go, long baseline exchanges were the order of the day. Murray lost his serve in the first game, but immediately got it back and had a golden opportunity to go up 4-2, only for a lob to fall short.
This turned out to be a costly mistake as, in the following game, as Etcheverry broke Murray’s serve twice to close out the opening set in 61 minutes.
The Argentine, who reached the French Open quarter-final last year, also made fewer unforced errors from the baseline, and Murray was broken again in the second game of the second set.
Murray wasn’t as frustrated as he’d been in recent games and tried to fight his way back into the match, but it wasn’t until the second set that Etcheverry broke serve again, taking a 3-2 lead, and the rest was history.
This was Murray’s fourth loss in a row since October and his seventh loss in eight matches – the longest losing streak of his professional career.
Murray, after the match discussed the possibility of Australian Open 2024 being his last Grand Slam in Australia.
“It’s a definite possibility that will be the last time I play here. And yeah, I think probably because of how the match went & everything, I don’t know.
“In comparison to the matches that I played here last year, it’s the complete opposite feeling walking off the court. Yeah, wish I involved the crowd more. Just disappointed with the way I played and all of that stuff. Tough, tough way to finish,” Murray said after the match.
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