Andy Murray started the year with another crushing defeat as he crashed out of the Brisbane International to Grigor Dimitrov. The Brit led the second seed by a set before the match ran away from him, with Dimitrov bouncing back to win 4-6 7-5 6-2.
Murray and Dimitrov faced off for the 13th time to start their seasons after contrasting ends to 2023. The Bulgarian enjoyed a resurgence that saw him reach the Paris Masters final and return to the world’s top 15 while Murray’s trip to Paris-Bercy was a very different one.
The 36-year-old suffered a heartbreaking loss to Alex de Minaur as he blew match points and crashed out in the first round before facing injury setbacks over the off-season. The former world No 1 looked to get off on a better note in Brisbane as nothing was separating him from Dimitrov in the opening set.
With the second seed serving to stay in it, he threw in three uncharacteristic errors to give Murray the first break point of the game, also a set point. A fourth mistake handed the world No 42 the opener 6-4 after 43 minutes. It was Murray’s turn to face break points towards the end of the second set, saving the first with an ace before Dimitrov pounced to lead 5-4.
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But it was the start of a cat-and-mouse struggle, with Murray breaking back to stay alive. The second seed was able to regain his advantage, however, and saved two break points to close out the second set 7-5 despite breaking his racket strings twice in the game
Things took a worrying turn for the 2013 champion as the match suddenly started to run away from him. The world No 42 could be heard muttering away towards himself and his box in frustration. Dimitrov took advantage of Murray’s dip, winning the first six points of the decisive set and starting it with another break of serve.
The world No 14 kept on rolling, breaking Murray again, but the 36-year-old finally ended Dimitrov’s run of games at six as he saved two more break points to get on the board at 1-4.
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