Former tennis world no.1, Andy Murray has suffered a surprising defeat by Illya Marchenko in the final of Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Challenger Biella in Italy on Sunday afternoon.
The British star, who is ranked 106, was beaten in two sets by Ukrainian– 6-2, 6-4.
His last success came in the European Tennis Open in 2019 and had beaten world no. 212, Marchenko in both of their previous match-ups.
Murray had hoped to compete at the Australian Open but missed out after testing positive for COVID-19 in January before his flight to Melbourne.
Read Also: Tennis Star, Andy Murray Tests Positive For COVID-19 Just Weeks Ahead Of Australian Open
While higher ranked stars travelled to Melbourne for the tournament, Murray’s positive coronavirus test kept him out of the first Grand slam of the year.
He was however able to travel to Italy to continue his comeback from serious hip surgery. Marchenko and Murray, both 33, played out two sets in Italy.
Marchenko got off to a flying start as his opponent lost his serve, giving him a nice boost of confidence.
He once again broke Murray’s serve in the fifth game, taking a 4-1 lead in a set which ended 6-2 in for of the 212th seed.
Murray slipped behind in the first game of the second set, his opponent broke his serve and even earning a chance for a 3-0 lead.
The British saved a match point a 3-5 with his second serve, exploiting Marchenko’s clumsiness with the backhand, but couldn’t do same on the return. The former world no.1 conceded defeat- 6-4 at the end of the set.
Murray will try to take revenge in the Challenger 125 starting tomorrow in the same location. Players like Lorenzo Musetti (7th seed), Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (58th seed) and Sebastian Korda (88th seed) will be present.
