Andy Murray was booed on the pitch as the struggling Briton suffered another first round defeat

WRESTLING Andy Murray was booed on the court as he suffered another first round defeat.

The experienced Briton, 36, took on Frenchman Benoit Paire in his first match since defeat in the opening round of the Australian Open.

Andy Murray suffered another early exitCredit: Getty

The victory was Benoit Paire's first in 18 monthsCredit: Getty

Incredibly, it was Paire's first ATP Tour win in 18 months – achieved after two hours and 39 minutes on court.

Paire eventually won 2-6 7-6 6-3 in Montpellier at the Open Sud de France, causing further grief for Murray.

And the partisan 'home' tennis crowd had no shame in mocking the former world number one against underdog Paire.

The unsavory scenes came early in the first set when a Paire serve saved a break point thanks to a Hawkeye challenge.

That left Murray frustrated and he complained to the referee, leading to a hostile reception from the French fans.

However, three-time Grand Slam champion Murray immediately got the break and raced into a 3-0 lead before winning the opening set 6-2 in 38 minutes.

Paire, who reached a career-high No. 18 in 2016, responded by breaking Murray in the opening game of the second set.

And after the Brit withdrew to make it 4-4, it went to a tie-break.

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Murray won three straight points from 5-1 down and saved a set point to cut the score to 6-5.

But he lost the next point on his serve and Paire took the tie-break 7-5 to level the match and make it a decider.

After both players lost their serves early in the third, Paire made the decisive break to lead 5–3 and served it out, sealing an impressive victory.

The disappointing result means world number 49 Murray has now lost his last five matches and recorded just one win in ten.

Murray, who has said this year could be his last on tour if he “doesn't enjoy it”, lost in the opening round to Grigor Dimitrov in Brisbane and fell to Tomas Martin Etcheverry in straight sets at the Australian Open.

At the end of 2023, he ended the season with painful three-set marathon defeats against Alex De Minaur in Paris and Etcheverry in Basel.

There was a great result for Katie Boulter, however, as she defeated No. 6 seed Jasmine Paolini 6-2 6-2 in her opening match at the Linz Open in Austria.