Andy Murray’s hopes of a bright start to his 2023 season were ended in straight sets by Seb Korda at the Adelaide International on Tuesday.
Murray, who climbed back into the world’s top 50 last season, was broken early in the opening set to the American, son of former Australian Open champion Petr.
But the former world No1 broke back to force a tiebreak, which Korda won for the loss of just three points.
From there, the American, ranked 33rd in the world, dominated the contest for a 7-6, 6-3 victory.
Murray had cut a disconsolate figure when he drew his 2022 season to a close with a loss to Gilles Simon. There were glimpses of his old self against Korda in the first of his warm-up matches ahead of the Australian Open later this month.
Elsewhere, Novak Djokovic showed little ring rust on his competitive singles return on Australian soil a year on from having been deported from the country amid its Covid rules.
Djokovic, who received rapturous applause as he emerged on court, made light work of Frenchman Constantin Lestienne in a 6-3, 6-2 victory.
Following the victory, the Serbian said: “For the first match, I can’t complain, I played very well. Thank you all for coming out today and thank you for giving me the welcome that I could only wish for.”
