Fans definitely missed Andy Murray at the Australian Open 2021. Sadly, former World No. 1 player didn’t even make it to the qualifiers of the Grand Slam. However, he recently returned to the court and played his first match at an ATP tournament.

Facing World No. 83 Egor Gerasimov in the first round of the ATP 250 Montpellier 2021, Murray didn’t have a great start upon his return as he lost in straight sets. The final scoreline of the match was 7-6, 6-1.

It was surely a big blow to Andy Murray. Even though he looked to be in great touch, he was not able to battle past his opponent and got eliminated in the first round.

Set-1: Andy Murray loses a close set in tie-breaker

Serving first, Murray delivered some fabulous service and sealed the first game. However, Egor equalized the scoreline in the next game and brought it to 1-1. This went on till the sixth game and the scoreline soon became 3-3.

However, Egor broke in the seventh game, and that definitely caused some trouble for Murray. The World No. 121 player was serving really well before this, but he completely lost his momentum in this game. However, Murray got his shift back and broke in the subsequent game to level the scoreline.

The earlier pattern repeated after this, and as a result, the set witnessed a tie-breaker. It was quite an intriguing tie-breaker and lasted after 18 points. Although Murray saved three set-points, he finally conceded the fourth and lost the tie-breaker 8-10.

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Set-2: Final nail in the coffin for Murray

Serving first in the second set, Egor easily won the first game. He looked solid, as if he wanted to end the match quickly. The Belarusian player broke in the next game, and Murray was looking really tense at this point in time.

Egor continued his dream run and went on to establish a 3-0 lead over Murray at the end of the third set. Murray just lost his momentum, and what made his situation worse was that Egor broke again in the fourth game. The scoreline was 4-0 at this moment.

Egor won the fifth game too and was now inching closer towards a clean sweep in the second set. Interestingly, he even won a match-point in the next game but failed to capitalize on it. However, he didn’t have to wait long as he won the next game and thus won the set 6-1.

Also Read: Andy Murray Says Dominic Thiem Wouldn’t Have Won US Open if Novak Djokovic Hadn’t Been Defaulted