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Murray hammered by Baghdatis in Rotterdam

Andy Murray's second serve failed to function © Getty Images

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Andy Murray made a disappointing return to action in his first match since the Australian Open final defeat to Novak Djokovic, losing to Marcos Baghdatis in the first round of the World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.

Murray had stated that he felt good about his game, despite becoming the first man in the open era to lose his first three grand slam finals in straight sets. However, Baghdatis inflicted a second defeat of the season on Murray, hitting back from a poor start to triumph 6-4 6-1.

The British No. 1 lifted the trophy upon his last appearance in Rotterdam in 2009, and he made a flying start on Wednesday, racking up three immediate break points, only to see Baghdatis fight back to deuce. However, Murray continued to ask all the questions and after a six-minute game he eventually converted his fifth break point.

Another break followed as Murray led 3-0, but then his game began to unravel as Baghdatis fought his way back into the match. Back-to-back breaks saw the Cypriot level at 4-4, and he penetrated the Murray serve again to close out the set.

Murray's second serve was the problem, winning only five of 18 points throughout the contest, and he fell behind early in the second stanza. Baghdatis clearly carried more venom on his ground strokes and, having won two of the pair's last three encounters, looked confident of improving his record.

Another break followed as Murray completely lost his way, eventually crashing out in 61 minutes.

Baghdatis will now face Feliciano Lopez in the second round after the Spaniard overcame Florian Mayer 6-3 6-4.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga battled back from a set down to beat Michael Llodra 4-6 6-4 6-4 to progress to the quarter-finals, where he is joined by Marin Cilic, who beat fifth seed Jurgen Melzer 6-2 6-4, and Viktor Troicki, who overcame Jarkko Nieminen 7-6(4) 7-5.

Elsewhere, Mikhail Youzhny booked his place in the last 16 with a straight-sets win over Marcel Granollers. However, Gilles Simon is out following a shock 6-2 2-6 6-3 defeat to qualifier Benoit Paire

There are two other men's tournaments in progress and at the Brasil Open it was Murray's Australian Open foe Alexandr Dolgopolov in action as he cruised into the quarter-finals at the expense of Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 7-5 6-4.

Top seed Nicolas Almagro progressed past Joao Souza 6-2 6-2 but the Brazilian's countrymen fared better, Ricardo Mello upsetting second seed Albert Montanes 6-3 6-3 and third seed Thomaz Bellucci getting past Carlos Berlocq 6-4 7-5.

There was little luck for the Americans at the SAP Open. James Blake fell 6-2 7-6 to breakout Canadian player Milos Raonic and Donald Young was edged out 6-4 5-7 7-5 by Richard Berankis in Wednesday's second round action.

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