Andy Murray booed as he suffers defeat in first match since dismal Aus Open exit

29 January 2024 , 22:00

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Andy Murray's hopes in France were ended in the first round

Andy Murray was booed by the French crowd as he fell to a first-round defeat in the Open Sud de France against Benoit Paire.

Despite taking the opening set, the Scot fell to a 2-6 7-6 6-3 loss as he failed to put his Australian Open exit behind him. Murray was dumped out early on in Melbourne and his fortunes didn't fare any better now he's back in Europe.

Murray began well on the Court Patrice Dominguez, racing into a 3-0 lead, but Paire saw a fault overturned by Hawkeye which saw the Scot remonstrate with the umpire, which didn't go down well with the French crowd, who went on to jeer the three-time Grand Slam winner.

The 36-year-old, who was the fifth seed at the tournament in France, clearly struggled to put his frustrations behind him as he continued to gesture to the umpire between points en route to another defeat. It comes shortly after he was well beaten by Tomas Etcheverry in the opening round at the year's first Grand Slam.

Murray is looking to remain competitive but was well beaten and cast doubt over his own future, suggesting he might've played his last match at the Australian Open, where he had been a finalist on numerous occasions without ever claiming the trophy.

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He said after his loss Down Under: “It's a definite possibility that will be the last time I play here. In comparison to the matches that I played here last year, it's the complete opposite feeling walking off the court. Yeah, wish I involved the crowd more. Just disappointed with the way I played… a tough, tough way to finish…

“I have an idea of when I would probably like to finish playing. So much of that depends on how you're playing. The time frame for that narrows when you play and have results like today.”

Andy Murray crashed out of the Australian Open earlier in January (Getty Images)

Murray last won an ATP Tour title in 2019 and holds a 0-3 record for the year amid talk of retirement. Having battled a host of injury problems, the Scot confessed at the end of 2023 that he would consider calling it a day if he was struggling with his fitness.

"If I was in a situation like I was at the end of last year, then I probably wouldn't go again," he claimed. "But then if physically I'm doing well and my results are good and I'm playing well, then that's enjoyable and I could see myself still playing.

"We'll see how the year goes, see how the body holds up. If things are going well, I'd love to keep going. But, if they're not, and I'm not enjoying it, it could be the last year, yes."

Samuel Meade