Andy Murray made to pay for errors as he is beaten by Facundo Bagnis in Melbourne
- Sean Fisher
- 4 January 2022
Andy Murray started 2022 in frustrating fashion, falling to a defeat at the hands of world No.76, Facundo Bagnis.
Andy Murray's New Year started on a down note as he lost to Facundo Bagnis in the first round of the Melbourne Summer Series.
The 34-year-old Scot entered the tournament as a way to warm up for this month's Australian Open, but he ended up departing in the first round.
The former No.1 made too many errors as he fell 6-3 5-7 6-3 to his Argentine opposition, meaning he now has his work cut out for him to be sharp for the first Grand Slam tournament of the year.
Murray ended last year full of hope after reaching the final of an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi in December, where he eventually lost out to Andrey Rublev in the final.
2022 aims @andy_murray. Could he? pic.twitter.com/62bo2UIw8g
ā LTA (@the_LTA) January 3, 2022
But for all the positives he managed to take from that performance - they quickly evaporated when he took to the court in Melbourne.
The Scot put on a disappointing display, and the slamming of his racket into his own bench tells you all you need to know about what he thought of it.
Bagnis, who has never gone beyond the third round of a grand slam tournament, took the first set but Murray responded well with a dominant second to level matters.
Threading the needle š@andy_murray paints the line after this 360 return at #ATPCup pic.twitter.com/5t7AIPIoPs
ā Tennis TV (@TennisTV) January 4, 2022
However, Murray failed to capitalise in the final set, struggling with his second-serve percentage which allowed Bagnis to grab the crucial break in the fifth game.
The 31-year-old Argentinian then served out to take the match. He will now face Grigor Dimitrov in the round of 16.
Murray has accepted a wild-card into the Australian Open, two years after indicating his appearance in Melbourne was likely to be his last due to impending hip surgery.
The Australian Open starts on January 17, running through until January 30.
