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Andy Murray: Briton suffers early exit with loss to Stan Wawrinka at Bordeaux Challenger event

Andy Murray

Murray rose to 42 in the world following his triumph in the ATP Challenger event in Aix-en-Provence

Andy Murray slumped to another early exit on clay as he was thrashed by Stan Wawrinka at the ATP Challenger event in Bordeaux.

The 36-year-old, who suffered a first-round exit at the Italian Open last week, lost 6-3 6-0.

The former world number one won the Challenger event in Aix-en-Provence earlier this month.

But the Briton has struggled for form on clay and is yet to decide whether he will play at the French Open.

As the tournament’s second seed, Murray had a bye into the second round but former US, French and Australian open champion Wawrinka, 38, needed only 75 minutes to beat the Briton.

Murray saved five set points at 5-2 in the opening set but was broken three times in the second by the Swiss, struggling on his second serve.

Wawrinka, who also suffered an early exit at the Italian Open, beat France’s Ugo Blanchet in the first round and will face Frenchman Ugo Humbert or Belgian Gauthier Onclin in the quarter-final.

Murray has been trying to get more clay-court match time in the build-up to the French Open but remains unsure whether he will make only his second appearance at the Grand Slam event since 2017.

“It’s not so much about [physical worries],” Murray said after the loss to Wawrinka.

“I trust that my body will be OK after what I did at the beginning of the year. I played back-to-back five-hour matches and did well physically in those matches,” he added.

He came back from a set down in the final against American top seed Tommy Paul on the way to victory in Aix-en-Provence, his first title in four years, but has since suffered back-to-back defeats on the surface as well as first-round exits in Madrid and Monte Carlo.

“It’s just what the right thing is to prioritise at this stage in my career. I trust my body now but I’m aware that my best chance of having a deep run is more likely to happen at Wimbledon,” said Murray.

The event in Bordeaux was scheduled to be the Scot’s final tournament before playing in Paris.

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