MURRAY OUT OF AUSSIE OPEN
Andy Murray is out of the Australian Open at the first hurdle following a four-set defeat to Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
The British number one, seeded ninth following victory at the Qatar Masters, fell to a 7-5, 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (7-5) to Tsonga in Melbourne.
The draw was highlighted by many as a potential upset, with the number nine ranked player in the world going up against the world number 38, who ended Tim Henman's career last season by knocking him out of the US Open.
Tsonga dominated the early exchanges against the disappointing Murray, who had been tipped as a strong outside bet to claim a first grand slam title, with a solid serve that gave few opportunities for the Scot.
And the Frenchman raced into a two-set lead before Murray kept the game alive with a 6-0 whitewash in the third before Tsonga clinched the tie with a fourth-set tie break.
The result means that Murray's next opportunity to claim that elusive first major will come at the French Open in May.
The 20-year-old, obviously disappointed by the early defeat, denied that his preparation had not been thorough.
"I don't think it's anything to do with not getting to Australia early enough," he said.
"I had six, seven days of preparation. I trained in the hot conditions. It was nothing to do with the physical thing why I lost the match.
"The most important thing is to get his serve back because he's obviously got a very good serve but I didn't make enough returns at the start of the match to have a chance of really breaking him.
"I didn't put enough returns in court with enough depth to let his inconsistency be a problem at the start of the match and it was only at the end when I started to do that.
"I did all the right preparation, worked very hard on my game and I've improved a lot of my shots.
"I'm obviously disappointed that I didn't win the match. I would have wanted to win more than anything. I gave it my best effort out there. But it's not the worst I've felt after a defeat."
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