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Andy Murray suffers stunning defeat in Rennes Challenger event


Andy Murray suffered a shock defeat to Russian Roman Safiullin in the second round of the Rennes Challenger event on Wednesday.

The three-time Grand Slam champion started his campaign comfortably against Yannick Maden before falling to Safiullin 6-2 4-6 6-1.

The Brit admitted he was playing on the Challenger tour to play more regularly and improve his match fitness ahead of the major tournaments, though was dealt a stunning blow against the Russian.

Murray struggled in the opening set, winning just a staggering 9% (1/11) second serves as the world number 158 dominated the exchanges and earned himself a double break before wrapping up the set 6-2.

The 34-year-old improved in the second set, breaking for the first time at 4-4 before levelling the match.

However, the final set was almost a carbon copy of the first, with Safuillin winning 31 of the 48 points.

The Russian broke Murray twice to race into a 5-0 lead, and had three match points to bagel the Brit before eventually sealing a deserved victory 6-1.


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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.