Andy Murray suffered another defeat in the 2024 season, losing to Jakub Mensik at the Qatar Open with a score of 7-6(6) 6-7(3) 7-6(4).
The loss adds to Murray’s poor start to the season, as he has now lost four out of five matches. Murray was looking to improve his performance in the Middle East after defeating Alexandre Muller in the first round.
However, Mensik, a determined teenager from the Czech Republic, used powerful shots from the back of the court to tire out the 36-year-old Murray in a match that lasted three hours and 23 minutes, making it the longest match in Qatar Open history.
Murray, who reached the final of this event last year, was losing 5-2 in the final set, with Mensik serving for the match.
Despite facing the possibility of falling out of the world’s top 60 with an early exit, the Briton managed to come back and break Mensik’s serve twice, forcing a deciding tiebreak.
Prior to this win over Muller, Murray had suffered six consecutive defeats. However, he was unable to maintain the good form he showed in that match, as Mensik, ranked 116th in the world, proved to be too strong for him.
“I’m just speechless right now; I don’t know what to say,” Mensik said afterwards.
“It was a tough match, [Murray] is a great player and I watched him on the TV winning Wimbledon twice, it is unbelievable at this age he can still compete with the best players of the world.”
The Czech player, who made it to his first quarter-final in a tour-level event, will face the top seed Andrey Rublev in the next round. Rublev defeated Richard Gasquet 6-3 6-4 in just 57 minutes.
