Andy Murray suffers humiliating career milestone in Roberto Bautista Agut loss

02/16/2022

Andy Murray suffered the joint-heaviest defeat of his career at the Qatar Open on Wednesday, going down 6-0 6-1 against Roberto Bautista Agut.

It was a chastening loss for the three-time tennis Grand Slam champion and former world No 1, as he was soundly beaten in just 66 minutes in Doha.

The two former Qatar champions last faced each other at the Australian Open in 2019 in what turned out to be a five-set thriller that went in the Spaniard's favour, but this time it was a totally different story.

Murray headed into this clash in confident mood having gained revenge over Taro Daniel last time out following his Australian Open exit.

But that confidence quickly vanished as Murray lost the first point on a backhand error before more wild groundstrokes ensured the first set rapidly went against him.

The Spaniard did not lose a point during Murray's opening service game in Doha on Wednesday, and broke twice more to seal a first-set whitewash.

Murray ensured it wasn't the ultimate humiliation as he managed to hold his serve to make it 1-1 in the second set.

However, things turned sour straight away again as the Spaniard continued to assert his authority on the last-16 contest at the Qatar Open.

Despite leading the fourth game of the second set 40-0, Bautista Agut capitalised on some loose forehands to level the scoring at deuce before firing down a winner after setting up break point.

Murray was furious with himself and in the final game, he smashed his racket against the court as his opponent drew level at 30-30 after a shaky start to the deciding game.

Murray will have some few sleepless nights after his defeat on Wednesday, with the Brit struggling to string a number of wins together as he continues his comeback trail.

It turned out to be a tough day all round for the Brits in Qatar, as fifth seed Dan Evans also went out at the round of 16 stage – with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina claimed a 4-6 7-5 6-4 victory.

Bautista Agut will now play Fokina in what is an all-Spanish quarter-final contest at the Qatar Open.

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