Stephen Hendry: Seven-time world champion loses comeback match against Matthew Selt
- Published
Hendry has won 36 ranking titles
Stephen Hendry was glad of his "nerves" as he reflected on losing his first match since coming out of retirement.
The Scottish seven-time world champion lost 4-1 to Matthew Selt in the first round of the Gibraltar Open.
It was Hendry's first match since retiring in 2012.
"I really felt the nerves when I put my suit on in the hotel room. That's when it really hit me, which is a good sign because without nerves you can't perform," he said.
"But it needs to be more nerves of excitement and expectation rather than nerves of not knowing what's going to happen. I was generally quite happy. I didn't miss anything easy. Matt played fantastic."
The 52-year-old's defeat came despite making the 776th century of his career to level the match at 1-1.
Hendry is fourth on the all-time list of career centuries behind Judd Trump (780), John Higgins (833) and Ronnie O'Sullivan (1,033).
Ken Doherty, Mark Selby and Jimmy White won their opening ties in Tuesday's matches.