Andy Murray’s winning start to 2019 came to a halt at the Brisbane International after he was beaten 7-5 6-2 by Daniil Medvedev in their second-round meeting.

Murray, who continues to be affected by a long-term hip injury, overcame James Duckworth in his opening match of the year on New Year’s Day but was

comprehensively beaten by Medvedev.

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The 31-year-old Briton has slipped to 240th in the world rankings following

surgery on his troublesome hip and admitted after overcoming Duckworth that he does not know how much longer his career will last.

Medvedev hit 16 aces to set-up a quarter-final appointment with Canadian Milos Raonic on Friday.

“He served extremely well and I didn’t really get many chances on his service games,” Murray said. “And then on my own service games I made a few too many errors in the rallies, especially early on I was trying to play a little bit more offensive.

“In the second set, I made a few too many mistakes, and obviously there was a period in the match from 5-5 where I lost six games in a row. When you play better players … they will expose any errors that you make in your game or any shots that you’re not hitting particularly well. And he did that.”

Murray put up a fight in the opening set having slipped 3-1 behind, winning four of the next five games to seize a 5-4 lead. But the momentum changed with the score tied at 5-5 in the 11th when he failed to convert two break points to lose the game and then concede the set as Medvedev claimed the next six games.

The second set was more one-sided as Murray, a two-time winner of the

hard-court tournament which serves as a warm-up for the Australian Open, allowed Medvedev to power 4-0 ahead. A brief fightback that produced success in the next two games followed but Medvedev steadied to seal victory with an ace.

Rafael Nadal cast doubt on his fitness for the Australian Open by pulling out of the Brisbane International before his first match.

The Spaniard opted not to play his second match at an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi last week after tweaking his thigh and is worried about the risk of exacerbating the problem.

“I did an MRI and it shows a small strain on my left thigh. I tried to play, I wanted to play, but recommendations from the doctors [were otherwise],” he said. “I feel better than I did four days ago. It’s a risk to damage my body for one month if I play here.”

It continues a trend for Nadal, who withdrew or retired mid-match during all but one of his hard-court tournaments last season. His final match of 2018 turned out to be the US Open semi-final against Juan Martín del Potro, where he pulled the plug at the end of the second set because of pain in his troublesome knees.

After recovering from that, an abdominal injury sidelined him for the rest of the season and he began his pre-season preparations late after opting to have ankle surgery to clear up a persistent niggle.

This latest issue is a dispiriting blow for the world No 2 but he will hope sitting out this week will enable him to be fully recovered for the year’s first grand slam, which starts on 14 January.

Japanese lucky loser Taro Daniel takes Nadal’s place and faces Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round.