Melbourne (BBC): Andy Murray suffered a losing start to 2022 as he was beaten by world number 76 Facundo Bagnis in the first round of the Melbourne Summer Series.
The Briton, 34, produced an error-strewn display as he lost 6-3 5-7 6-3 to the Argentine. Murray slammed his racket into his bench in frustration during the deciding set.
Bagnis broke the Scot in the fifth game of the set before serving out to take the match. Murray came into the tournament with confidence, having reached the final of an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi in December, losing the decider to world number five Andrey Rublev.
But he struggled with a poor ball toss and a disappointing second-serve percentage against an opponent who has never gone past the third round of a Grand Slam tournament.
It leaves the three-time Grand Slam winner with plenty of work to do before this month’s Australian Open. Murray has accepted a wildcard for the tournament and will be appearing two years on from what, at the time, looked set to be his final match in the event as he prepared for hip surgery.
Meanwhile, Nick Kyrgios has withdrawn from the men’s event in Melbourne because of asthma. The 26-year-old played only 15 matches in 2021, winning seven of them and has not been in action since late September because of knee issues, slipping to 93rd in the rankings.
He was set to take on Slovakian Alex Molcan but will now begin his 2022 season at next week’s Sydney Tennis Classic.
Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury were beaten by Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger Aliassime, as Canada defeated Great Britain 2-1 in their ATP Cup Group C tie.
The doubles rubber was decisive after the two singles matches, in which Dan Evans beat world number 14 Shapovalov 6-4 6-4 and Cameron Norrie lost out to Auger Aliassime 7-6 (7-4) 6-3. British duo Murray and Salisbury lost a tight first set but were beaten comfortably in the second, losing 6-4 6-1 in one hour and 10 minutes. Great Britain, Canada, USA and Germany have all won one and lost one before the final day of the group stage. The winners of each of the four groups go through to the semi-finals.
