- Jakub Mensik, 18, wins 7-6 (6), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4) in over three hours
- Murray said to himself mid-match: ‘You don’t believe in yourself’
Andy Murray’s considerable efforts to rebuild his faltering form took a crushing blow on Wednesday as, despite fighting hard for more than three hours, his nerves betrayed him in the decisive moments against the impressive 18-year-old Jakub Mensik and he eventually succumbed in the second round of the Qatar Open. At three hours 24 minutes, it was the longest match in the tournament’s history.
Throughout his dire past six months on the tour, Murray has insisted that he has been performing well in practice and he has simply struggled badly to produce the same level under pressure in matches. His performance on Wednesday further underlined that rather than his body betraying him, as would be expected from a 36-year-old with a metal hip, at the moment he simply cannot get out of his own head.