June 11, (THEWILL) – Andy Murray’s preparations for Wimbledon hit an early stumbling block, as the former world number one suffered a disappointing first-round exit at the Stuttgart Open on Tuesday. Despite being a finalist in the German tournament two years ago, Murray fell 6-3 6-4 to American Marcos Giron.
The 37-year-old Scot had spent time training on grass courts in Britain following his first-round defeat to Stan Wawrinka at the French Open last month. However, this preparation failed to pay dividends at the Weissenhof Club, whose courts are curated under guidance from Wimbledon experts.
Murray, will hope to revive his grass-court form at next week’s Queen’s Club event in London, his final warm-up tournament before what could be his last appearance at Wimbledon. The 2013 and 2016 Wimbledon champions struggled throughout the 75-minute encounter against Giron, dropping serve early in each set.
Consequently, Murray is set to drop out of the world’s top 120 as he continues his battle to regain full fitness following hip surgery. Despite the defeat, Giron paid tribute to his illustrious opponent, stating: “I grew up watching Andy, it’s an honour to be on the court with him.”
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
