Andy Murray’s return to clay was a disappointing one as he suffered a straight-sets defeat to Alex De Minaur in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters. The British player opted out of most of the 2022 clay-court season, including the French Open, and was playing in Monaco for the first time since 2017.
However, Murray was not at his best on his least favorite surface and lost the opening four games, leading to a 6-1 6-3 defeat to De Minaur, who dominated the match.
During the second set of the match, Murray got into a heated argument with umpire Carlos Bernardes when his hat fell off during a point, but the Brazilian did not stop play. The two were discussing the rule over the change of ends, which had a negative impact on Murray’s performance.
He was eventually broken in the next game, leading to a number of unforced errors and a total of 26 for the match, compared to De Minaur’s eight.
De Minaur, who is seeded 14th, will now face Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff in the second round of the tournament. Meanwhile, Murray will be left to contemplate his defeat and prepare for his next tournament.
