Andy Murray declares ‘this game is not for me anymore’ as hopes crushed in Qatar

Andy Murray mouthed an ominous message in his demoralising Qatar Open defeat to teenager Jakub Mensik on Wednesday. The 36-year-old’s trip to the Middle East got off to the perfect start, beating Alexandre Muller to notch his first victory since October, but the relief wasn’t to last long.

Things were looking up for Murray when he powered past Muller in straight sets on Tuesday. But he followed that up with a loss to 18-year-old Mensik, who won two out of three tiebreaks to book his spot in the quarter-finals.

Murray was chasing the game by the time he earned a break point at 5-5 in the second set. But when the veteran miscued his shot into the net, his reaction was telling, as he clearly mouthed: “This game is not for me anymore. It’s not for me anymore, this game.”

Although Murray recovered to take the second-set tiebreak, he eventually crashed out 6-7 7-6 6-7 against the lowly 116th-ranked youngster.

Murray was chasing the game by the time he earned a break point at 5-5 in the second set. But when the veteran miscued his shot into the net, his reaction was telling, as he clearly mouthed: “This game is not for me anymore. It’s not for me anymore, this game.”

Although Murray recovered to take the second-set tiebreak, he eventually crashed out 6-7 7-6 6-7 against the lowly 116th-ranked youngster.