Andy Murray has been knocked out of the Brisbane International, losing 7-5 6-2 to world No 16 Daniil Medvedev in the second round of the competition.
The defeat brings to a halt the Scot’s latest comeback, having returned to competitive action this week after three months out from the sport. Murray brought his 2018 season to an early end in order to focus on his recovery from a long-term hip injury.
Murray, who recently admitted he continues to play in pain, overcame James Duckworth in his opening match of the year on New Year’s Day but was comprehensively beaten by Medvedev in just 81 minutes.
The 31-year-old Briton has slipped to 240th in the world rankings following surgery on his troublesome hip and admitted after beating Duckworth that he does not know how much longer his career will last.
Murray put up a fight in the first set before 14 winners by Medvedev ended his resistance after 47 minutes.
A break in the first set had offered Murray, a two-time winner of the hard-court tournament, some comfort but the second was far more one-sided as Medvedev raced into a 4-0 lead.
A brief fightback that produced success in the next two games followed but Medvedev steadied to seal victory with an ace.
Speaking of the defeat, Murray said afterwards: “He served extremely well and I didn’t really get many chances on his service games.
“And then on my own service games I made a few too many errors in the rallies, especially early on I was trying to play a little bit more offensive.
“In the second set, I made a few too many mistakes, and obviously there was a period in the match from 5-5 where I lost six games in a row.
“When you play better players... they will expose any errors that you make in your game or any shots that you’re not hitting particularly well. And he did that.”
Medvedev progress to the quarter-finals where he takes on Canadian Milos Raonic tomorrow.
