Monte Carlo Masters: In the opening round of the Monte Carlo Masters, Andy Murray’s comeback to clay ended in a quick, straight-sets loss to Alex De Minaur.
Murray was competing in Monaco for the first time since 2017 after missing all but one event of the clay-court season in 2022, which included the French Open.
The 35-year-old struggled mightily on his least preferred surface, dropping the first four games as De Minaur easily defeated him 6-1 6-3, wrapping up the first set in only 35 minutes.
Early in the second set, Murray and umpire Carlos Bernardes got into a heated exchange after the Brit’s cap came off in the middle of a point but the Brazilian did not stop play.
Murray suffered as a result of the pair’s discussion on the end-change rule, as he was broken in the following game while making a series of unforced errors.
Murray made 26 unforced errors overall, compared to De Minaur’s eight, and the Australian, who is ranked 14th, will now play Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff in the second round.
Norrie is eliminated early, but Draper advances to the next round.
Cameron Norrie suffered a loss in the first round as well, losing to Argentinean Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets.
Norrie was defeated 6-3 6-4 in Monaco after being shocked by France’s Gregoire Barrere in his opening encounter at the Miami Open last month.
Although Cerundolo got off to a quick start, Norrie fought his way back into the game, but he never seemed to be in control of his game. He committed 18 unforced errors compared to only eight wins.
In the ninth game of the second set, when the strain on the British No. 1 had finally taken its toll, a netted forehand handed Cerundolo the critical break.
Norrie, who is ranked 13th, had a run of 21 victories from 25 matches to open the season, but he now needs to regain his confidence in order to play the remaining clay-court events.
But, there was good news for Jack Draper, who triumphed in his injury comeback match against Sebastian Baez of Argentina, winning 6-3, 7-5.
In addition to saving 11 of the 12 break points he faced on his serve, the 21-year-old, who is ranked 56th in the world, also converted three of his own four opportunities to set up a second-round matchup with Polish 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz.
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