Andy Murray's Monte Carlo return ends in disaster as he's thrashed by Alex de Minaur
Andy Murray played and lost his first match at the Monte Carlo Masters since 2017.
Andy Murray suffered a one-sided defeat in his return to the Monte Carlo Masters. In his first match at the event since 2017, he went down 6-1 6-3 to Alex de Minaur in an hour and 26 minutes. The Brit had been a late addition to the main draw but failed to make the most of his direct entry place.
Murray last played in Monte Carlo six years ago, when he was the world No 1. At the time, he suffered an early exit to Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the round-of-16. But he was back in the main draw after several withdrawals meant Murray could get in off his own ranking.
The Brit had a tough opening round in 14th seed de Minaur, who has already won a title this year in Acapulco. And the Aussie quickly raced to a 4-0 double-break lead despite struggling to land his first serves.
Murray was broken again to lose the opening set 6-1 in 34 minutes. The world No 57 hit just one winner to 15 unforced errors, with the mistakes proving costly while de Minaur fired six winners to just four errors.
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The 35-year-old got himself on the board at 1-1 to stay hot on the world No 19’s heels at the start of set number two. And there was some drama a game later as Murray’s cap fell off mid-rally, with the Brit claiming it should have been given as a let.
De Minaur won the point on a drop shot, and the world No 57 continued his exchange with chair umpire Carlos Bernardes at the changeover. The debate may have gotten into his head, as Murray was then broken in the next game.
Much like the first set, the 24-year-old continued his tear as he threatened the Murray serve again at 4-1 and the Brit was forced to save two break points to stop his opponent from serving for the win. He was able to fend the Aussie off for a few more minutes before crashing out 6-1 6-3, failing to create any break point chances throughout the match despite a shaky final game from de Minaur.
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Murray altered his planned schedule to play in Monte Carlo this week after receiving an unexpected direct entry. The world No 57 has opted to skip the clay swing altogether or play a select few tournaments in recent years.
It now remains to be seen whether he competes in the next two clay-court Masters in Madrid and Rome before a potential French Open appearance. But Murray previously teased an appearance on the dirt this season, long before he knew he’d be playing in Monte Carlo.
Discussing his calendar with HELLO! magazine, he said he would start the season in Australia before playing on all three surfaces. “After that I’ll be doing some more hard-court tournaments, then hopefully the clay, and then back to the UK for the grass court season,” he revealed.