Andy Murray’s 2022 got off to a poor start with a three-set defeat to world No76 Facundo Bagnis in the opening round of the Melbourne Summer Series.
Murray had ended last year with promise after a strong showing in Abu Dhabi, where he defeated both Rafael Nadal and Dan Evans before losing to Andrey Rublev.
But he looked out of sorts for much of a 6-3 5-7 6-3 loss to Bagnis, in which Murray was clearly frustrated.
The former world No1 hit his racket against a bench in frustration when his opponent got the deciding break in game five of the final set, from which the Briton could not find his way back into the tie.
The 34-year-old, preparing for his 14th Australian Open, struggled with his serve throughout against an opponent who had previously boasted just three hard-court victories on the ATP Tour since turning professional in 2008.
Meanwhile in Melbourne, another ex-world No1 in Naomi Osaka made a winning return to the WTA Tour in her first match for four months after a well-publicised hiatus from the game.
Osaka took a break from tennis after losing her third-round match at the US Open back in September and, while not at her fluent best, still had enough to defeat Alize Cornet 6-3 3-6 6-3.
Afterwards, the Japanese player said: “I really love playing here. I love New York but this might be my favourite Slam [the Australian Open] so it feels really good to always come back here.”
