Murray falls in Qatar
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Doha, Qatar (SportsNetwork.com) - Two-time champion Andy Murray went by way of a second-round upset Wednesday at the $1 million Qatar Open.
Capable German Florian Mayer rung in the new year by coming back to stun the third-seeded British star 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in 1 hour, 52 minutes on the hardcourts at Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex.
Mayer overcame a one-set and 0-3 deficit in order to erase Murray.
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"To be honest, in my mind, the match was finished at 3-6, 0-3," said Mayer. "But I tried to play more aggressively, tried to risk something more. Of course for sure he didn't play his best tennis.
"I knew before the match if I would have a chance, it's probably today. He didn't play for a long time. So I took my chance."
Murray returned to action for the first time in three-and-a-half months with an easy 37-minute 6-0, 6-0 win here on Tuesday, but Mayer posed a much bigger problem than helpless Qatari wild card Mousa Shanan Zayed did on Day 2.
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The Wimbledon titlist and 2008 and 2009 Doha winner Murray underwent minor back last season and hadn't played anywhere since mid-September.
Also in Doha, Peter Gojowczyk upended sixth-seeded fellow German Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (9-7); seventh-seeded Latvian Ernests Gulbis held off Poland's Lukasz Kubot 6-2, 4-6, 6-3; Romanian Victor Hanescu knocked out eighth-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 4-6, 7-6 (7-0), 6-2; and German qualifier Dustin Brown withstood 22 aces in outlasting 6-foot-10 Croat Ivo Karlovic 3-6, 7-6 (15-13), 6-4 at this Australian Open tune-up.