MONTPELLIER, Feb 24 — 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. — AFP