Briton Andy Murray loses to Marcos Baghdatis in first round of Rotterdam Open
Currently ranked number five in the South African Airways Association of Tennis Professionals world rankings, Andy Murray of Britain faced defeat at the hands of Cyprus' Marcos Baghdatis to be eliminated as early as in the first
round of the 2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament on Wednesday. Murray lost an embarrassing 4-6 in the first set and 1-6 in the second set to be knocked out of the Rotterdam event in straight sets.
After being beaten by Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final last month, Murray had chosen the Rotterdam Open for his comeback; however, after a bright start in the event, his form dipped and he succumbed to defeat against
the world number 20, Cypriot tennis ace .
The professional stated, however, in his defence that his left wrist troubled him during the match. "I was struggling a bit with my wrist but I don't know why. It wasn't terrible today but it seems to be happening a lot this week.
A number of players have had problems with their wrists. Maybe it's the change of surface and balls and not having much time to get used to the conditions. I don't think it's anything serious," said Andy.
Murray got off to a good start as he broke Baghdatis' serve in the first set, following it up with another win to lead three games to none. However, the tables turned on the Briton as his serve was broken in the fourth game shortly
after which Marcos' game picked up and Andy started making unforced errors. Furthermore, Baghdatis broke Murray to level things up at 4-4 in the first set.
Marcos went up 5-4, holding his serve as Andy made a double fault in the sixth game to present the first set to Baghdatis. After the end of the first set, Murray seemed to have lost his spark as he struggled to keep up with his
competitor. As the second set commenced, Murray’s serve was broken yet again at 3-1. Baghdatis did not waste any time to capitalize on the opportunity and bagged the next three games to eliminate Murray and advance to the next round of the tournament.
"The court was fast and you need to be sharp with your movement which I wasn't. I didn't serve well and you need to on these courts. I had my chance to take control when I was 3-0 up but it went the other way. It's my fault," stated
Murray.
The professional will be teaming up with his brother Jamie Murray against the pair of Frenchmen Julien Benneteau and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the doubles category of the tournament on Thursday.
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