Murray pays for quick return

Andy Murray conceded he may have returned to competitive action too soon after suffering a comprehensive first-round defeat at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam last night.

Andy Murray conceded he may have returned to competitive action too soon after suffering a comprehensive first-round defeat at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam last night.

In his first match since losing to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final 10 days ago, Murray started well against Marcos Baghdatis before slumping to a 6-4 6-1 defeat.

The Scot led 4-2 in the first set but then lost 10 of 11 games as the Cypriot cruised through.

And Murray admitted he may not have been mentally prepared for the rigours of the ATP Tour after such a gruelling start to 2011.

He said: "I have to think about what it was. You have to get the balance right, making sure you come to the tournament mentally feeling you are ready to win it and maybe I didn't feel like that.

"I struggled to adapt, it was very fast out there and Marcos was hitting the ball well, very flat, and I didn't really adjust to the conditions so maybe it's something I need to think about...how to prepare better or if it was too soon."

The world number five felt his serve, which let him down against Djokovic in Melbourne, was again a weakness.

"I got off to a very good start and then started making mistakes," he told BBC Scotland. "I wasn't timing the ball well after that and didn't serve great.

"That's the reason it went the way it did."

Murray is hoping playing doubles with brother Jamie in Rotterdam will help sharpen his reflexes.

The Scottish pair meet French duo Julien Benneteau and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga later today.

"I didn't feel particularly sharp on the court and that's something the doubles should help with, short sharp points," he added.

"The courts are very quick here and the first step is very important and that wasn't very good against Baghdatis. I was hitting the ball quite late."

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