By Andy Murray’s preparations for the French Open suffered a setback following a straight-sets defeat to Gregoire Barrere in Bordeaux.
The Scot, playing his second match since damaging ankle tendons in March, was beaten 6-4 6-2 by the world No 115 in the second round of the Challenger event.
Murray on Wednesday returned to action following an injury which put his participation at Roland Garros in doubt when he overcame Kyrian Jacquet after the Frenchman retired in the second set.
The 37-year-old’s quest to gain further clay-court practice looked set to be extremely short-lived as he dropped the opening game from 40-0 up en route to swiftly falling 5-0 behind following three breaks of serve.
He responded impressively to move within a game but Frenchman Barrere survived the fightback to wrap up the opening set in a little more than 45 minutes.
The three-time grand slam winner, who showed no visible discomfort, again failed to hold serve in the third, fifth and seventh games of the second set as his 30-year-old opponent deservedly eased into the quarter-finals.
British No 3 Dan Evans, also competing in Bordeaux in a bid to find form after a tough spell, earlier defeated France’s Harold Mayot 6-3 7-6 (3).
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