"Think we all knew Andy Murray was done, but this has become just sad" - Fans devastated as Brit crashes out of Montpellier 2024 in first round

Andy Murray's latest defeat against Benoit Paire in the first round of the Montpellier Open 2024 has left fans of the veteran immensely disappointed.

Murray has managed to make it back into the ATP top 50 after a long battle with injuries. But things have gone downhill for the former World No. 1 in the past few months; he has lost 8 out of his previous 9 matches. Murray is also yet to open his account in 2024, with an abysmal 0-3 start to the season.

The Brit entered the Montpellier Open as the fifth seed and faced Benoit Paire in the first round. It looked like it would be smooth sailing for Murray as he claimed the first set comfortably. However, the Frenchman put up a resilient effort to turn things around and eventually beat Murray 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-3.

Fans were disappointed to see another demoralizing performance from the three-time Grand Slam Champion, and took to X (Formerly Twitter) to express their feelings. One fan said that while the whole tennis fraternity knew Murray's best years were past him, his current situation was still "sad."

"I think we all knew andy was done, but this has become just sad," they wrote.

Another fan speculated that Murray was going to hang his boots after this season or possibly after this year's Wimbledon, as he would hate the current state of his career.

"Yeah, Andy is going to call it a day after this season, maybe even after Wimbledon. He'll hate this," they wrote.

Here are some more reactions from fans:

Looking back at Andy Murray's last title run

Andy Murray won the Antwerp Open in 2019

Andy Murray's most recent title run came in 2019 at the European Open in Antwerp.

Murray entered the main draw of the ATP 250 tournament using a protected ranking. The Brit kicked off his run with a comfortable straight-set win in the first round against Kimmer Coppejans. He faced Pablo Cuevas in the second round and got rid of him in straight sets again.

Murray's first real challenge came in the quarterfinals against Marius Copil. After a topsy-turvy three-setter, the three-time Slam champion reigned supreme over the Romanian.

In the semifinals, he came back from a set down and defeated Ugo Humbert.

Andy Murray butted heads with his longtime rival Stan Wawrinka in the finals and came back from a set down to lift the 46th ATP Tour Singles title of his career.