Murray, the world number three, looked off his game as he fell in straight sets against a charged Janko Tipsarević on the first day of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship.

Janko Tipsarević upsets Andy Murray

Andy Murray was defeated on Thursday 27th December 2012 by 6-3 6-4 by World number nine, Serbia’s Tipsarevic in this week’s exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi.

The match was started with strong service games by either players and continued on serve until Murray was broken in the fourth game by Tipsarevic. Tipsarevic made no mistakes and tookthe first set 6-3.

Murray faltered early in the second set as Tipsarevic piled on the pressure by claiming an immediate break of serve. The second set progressed with the reigning US Open champion and Olympic gold medalist trailing the 28-year-old at 5-4 after some terrible unforced error. Tipsarevic served for the match against the Brit who looked rusty throughout. The Serbian duly served out the game and booked his place in the semi-finals and a match against Almagro.

The Serbian next faces Spain’s world number 11 Nicolas Almagro, who came in as a late replacement following the withdrawal of Rafael Nadal due to a stomach virus. The exhibition tournament also features the like of world number one Novak Djokovic among others.

This match turned out to be a bitter disappointment for Murray who would have liked to use Abu Dhabi tournament as a good warm up for the season opening Grand Slam – the Australian Open.

Tags: Abu Dhabi, Andy Murray, Australian Open, Grand Slam, Janko Tipsarevic, Mubadala World Tennis Championship, Nicolas Almagro, Novak Djokovic, US Open