Andy Murray set for ranking drop as he declares ‘this game isn’t for me anymore’ in brutal loss
Andy Murray is set for a drop in the ATP Rankings after suffering a brutal defeat in a three-set marathon against Jakub Mensik at the 2024 Qatar Open on Wednesday.
The former world No 1 fell 6-7(6), 7-6(3), 6-7(4) to the 18-year-old Czech in the second round of the ATP 250 tournament, despite staging a comeback late in the third set.
In the opening set, Murray broke Mensik at 4-5 when the Czech served for the set, before establishing a 6-4 lead in the tiebreak. The Brit saw his two set points slip away, though, as he lost four straight points to lose the set — with an easy volley miss at 6-4 proving costly.
The three-time Grand Slam champion fought back impressively as he levelled the match after taking the second set with a convincing display in the tiebreak.
Murray was then broken twice as he slipped to a 2-5 deficit in the third set, but he made an improbable recovery to force a deciding tiebreak after breaking Mensik twice when he served for the match.
The 36-year-old took a 2-0 lead in the tiebreak, but could not finish off his talented 18-year-old opponent and lost the final three points from 4-4 to suffer a painful loss.
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Prizmic (Umag ’23)
Shang (Hong Kong ’24)
Mensik (Doha ’24)Jakub Mensik defeats Murray to become just the third player born in 2005 to make an ATP quarter-final 🙏#QatarExxonMobilOpen pic.twitter.com/UlppW3dKk6
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 21, 2024
Murray, who is currently ranked 50th in the world, will see his ranking take a hit following the tournament as he will drop 125 points after he made the final in Doha last year. He is down to 66th position in the Live ATP Rankings as it stands.
The two-time Olympic champion has now lost five of his six matches in 2024 and 10 of his last 12 encounters going back to September during a nightmare run of form.
After losing a point during the second set against Mensik, Murray expressed his frustration by appearing to say: “this game is not for me anymore, it’s not for me anymore.”
“This game is not for me anymore” 🎾 pic.twitter.com/ax10479pvr
— Sky Sports Tennis (@SkySportsTennis) February 21, 2024
Following his impressive victory, world No 116 Mensik said: “I’m speechless right now. I know a lot of fans wanted Andy to win today.
“Andy is an unbelievable player. When I was young I watched him on TV winning Wimbledon. It’s unbelievable at his age he’s able to compete with the best players in the world so congratulations to him and all the best for the next tournament.”
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