Alex de Minaur has handed Andy Murray one of the most crushing losses of his career, leaving the Scottish champion ‘demoralised’ and questioning whether he wants to continue his clay-court campaign. In his first appearance at the Monte Carlo Masters in six years, Murray was thrashed 6-1 6-3 in just 86 minutes by the Aussie star.
The 35-year-old Murray gained direct entry into the prestigious tournament after several players – including World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz and 11-time champion Rafa Nadal – withdrew due to injuries. However it ended in a painful defeat for Murray, who has rarely played on clay-court in recent years.
Last year he skipped all but one tournament of the clay-court season. The 35-year-old suffered hip injuries and a total joint replacement in 2018 – and the clay surface isn’t particularly kind on his body.
De Minaur won the first four games of the match and never looked back, breaking serve for the third time to win the first set in 35 minutes. The Aussie didn’t offer Murray a single break point in the match and now plays Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff in the second round on Wednesday.
For Murray, the crushing loss left him questioning whether he should continue his clay-court campaign or head home and start practicing for the grass season. “I’m pretty disappointed with it, to be honest, because I practised well last week,” he said.
“Obviously, I didn’t have high expectations going into the first tournament, I wasn’t expecting to play amazing tennis or feel great on the court, but certainly when you put a certain level of work in and that’s the performance that comes at the end of it, it’s pretty demoralising. I have to have a long think about things with my team and what I do from here.
