Andy Murray wins just two games against Novak Djokovic in Australian Open practice
- Published
Australian Open 2019 |
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Venue: Melbourne Park Dates: 14-27 January |
Coverage: Daily live commentaries on the BBC Sport website, listen to Tennis Breakfast daily from 07:00 GMT on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and watch highlights on BBC TV and online from 19 January. |
Britain's Andy Murray won just two games in a practice match against world number one Novak Djokovic as part of his Australian Open preparations.
The Scot, whose movement was laboured, held serve only once and was trailing 6-1 4-1 when they called it a day.
Three-time Grand Slam champion Murray, who missed most of last season after hip surgery, has tumbled down the rankings to 230th.
Murray has lost four times to Serbia's Djokovic in Australian Open finals.
The practice set and a half - curtailed because another practice match was booked to follow them - was watched by around 2,000 people on the Margaret Court Arena show court at Melbourne Park.
Murray, who has played only 12 matches since returning from surgery last year, then told a fan he would get them tickets to his first-round match against Roberto Bautista Agut after they contacted the 31-year-old on Instagram.
The fan posted a picture with the caption:, external "Still in absolute shock that I finally got to see the man behind my love for tennis in action today... It was Muzza that showed me just how entertaining tennis really could be."
Murray responded: "I'm sorry I couldn't be more entertaining today. Thanks for the support. If you'd like to come along and watch my match on Monday or Tuesday I'll sort you a ticket."
Murray has used his protected ranking to enter the first Grand Slam of the year but will not be seeded and so could face a top-ranked player early on.
His first tournament since September ended last week with a second-round defeat by Russian world number 16 Daniil Medvedev at the Brisbane International.
The Australian Open starts on Monday and runs until 27 January.