Rennes: The former world number one Andy Murray was eliminated in the last 16 second-level challenger at Rennes on Wednesday because of the big winner three times continuing the search for late-season momentum.
Murray, now falls in 116 in the world, losing to 158 ranks Roman Roman Safiullin, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.
The 34-year-old Murray was pushed to the pension threshold in 2019 with a hip injury, managed to save three match points before giving up.
Murray has beaten Yannick Germany Maden 6-3, 6-1 in the first round on Monday in front of around 2,000 fans.
Only two weeks earlier, he had played at the Arthur Ashe court with a capacity of 24,000 in New York, lost five setters of fiery to Stefanos Tsitipas in the first round of the US Open.
“One of the goals between now and the end of the year is to try and make a big increase with my ranking, and to do that, I have to compete often,” Murray said earlier this week.
“I still feel like I can play a very high level but if all the time when I go to a big tournament I play top players right at the beginning of the event, it’s not easy.”