On Thursday (Jan 20), Andy Murray’s long-awaited return to the Australian Open came to a disappointing end when he was knocked out 6-4 6-4 6-4 by world number 120 Taro Daniel.
As his Japanese opponent bounced along the baseline firing winner after winner, the 34-year-old Scot looked out of sorts, possibly still sore from his five-set win in the opening round on Tuesday.
As Murray made 34 unforced errors in the first two sets on John Cain Arena, the former world number one showed only flashes of the brilliant tennis that took him to five Australian Open finals.
In the third set, Murray edged ahead to the delight of the crowd at 2-0. However, Daniel broke back immediately, and 45 minutes later had booked his first Grand Slam third-round tie.
