WATCH: Andy Murray suffers a nasty fall after slipping on court during Qatar Open 2R loss, opponent Jakub Mensik rushes to Brit's aid
Andy Murray suffered a nasty fall during his second-round loss to Jakub Mensik at the Qatar Open on Wednesday (February 21).
Murray set up his clash with Mensik after beating Alexandre Muller in the first round. 18-year-old Mensik started his campaign against fifth-seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and pulled off an upset to beat the Spaniard.
Against the former World No. 1, the Czech got off to a fine start as he clinched the first set 7-6(6). However, a similarly tight second set went Murray's way as he dominated the youngster in the tiebreak.
The 3-time Grand Slam winner's fall happened at the beginning of the third set. Murray ran towards the net from the baseline to return Mensik's shot. The Brit hit a passing shot which went long, but right after hitting the ball, he fell while trying to keep his balance. A concerned Mensik came to Murray's side to check if the Brit was alright.
Ultimately, Murray lost the marathon contest as Mensik won the third set after yet another tense tiebreak. The 18-year-old is set to face top seed Andrey Rublev next, who made short work of veteran Richard Gasquet in the second round.
After the match, a delighted Mensik spoke highly of Murray.
"I'm just happy. It was a tough match today. Andy is an unbelievable player, I know that. When I was young, I watched him Wimbledon two times, so it's unbelievable that he can still compete with the best players in the world." Mensik said (via ATPTour.com).
Andy Murray's frustrations came to the fore during the second set
Even though Murray leveled things up by winning the second set against Mensik, there was a moment when the Brit lost his temper. It came after he lost an opportunity to break Mensik.
"This game is not for me anymore," Murray yelled (via Sky Sports).
There has been a lot of talk surrounding Murray's future in tennis recently. The former World No. 1's inability to go deep into tournaments has led to critics suggesting that he should retire. However, Murray himself has remained defiant and said that he will keep on playing.
"I can do whatever I want. I don't have to do what fans, journalists or anyone is telling me to do. Qualifying for all these tournaments on my right, on my ranking and all the matches that I've won, I want to keep playing just now, so I'm not going to stop," Murray said in a recent interview with Sky Sports.