Andy Murray knocked out in first round of ATP Montpellier by Egor Gerasimov

Andy Murray was dumped out of the ATP event in Montpellier on Tuesday after suffering a straight-sets defeat in the opening round against Belarusian Egor Gerasimov. The former world number one squandered a set point in the opening set before losing 7-6 (10/8), 6-1 to the 83rd-ranked Gerasimov. Murray, who missed the Australian Open after testing positive for Covid-19 , was playing his first ATP Tour event since last October. The 33-year-old Briton lost in the final of a second-tier Challenger tournament in Italy to Illya Marchenko earlier this month. Murray fell a break behind in the seventh game against Gerasimov on Tuesday, but fought back to force a tie-break. He missed one opportunity to take the set in the breaker, but his opponent clinched it on his fourth set point. It was all one-way traffic in the second set, though, as Murray had to save a match point to avoid being on the wrong end of a bagel. The three-time Grand Slam champion is currently 121st in the world rankings, having been beset by hip and groin injuries.