Andy Murray went out of the Australian Open with a whimper on Tuesday as Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela strolled to a 6-1 6-3 6-3 first-round win. Murray was facing a higher ranked and far more experienced player and Chela began well, dominating with his big forehand and breaking immediately.
But it was the catalogue of unforced errors from Murray that decided the match as he failed to find any rhythm.
Three break points went begging as Murray lost in under two hours.
The 18-year-old had received a rapturous welcome on the Vodafone Arena from a mixture of Britons keen to put Tim Henman's defeat the previous day behind them, and locals curious to see what all the fuss was about.
 | The guy's ranked 20 places in front of me, he is a much better player than me |
However, the signs were ominous as early as the second game when a woeful attempt at a drop shot followed by a double fault led to Murray dropping serve.
Chela clearly had a gameplan to hit the ball hard into the corner towards Murray's backhand and it paid dividends, with another break in game six as he took the first set.
A total of 15 unforced errors in the first set told its own story and when Murray was broken again at the start of the second set, the game was all but up.
The Scot recovered sufficiently in the third to make a game of it, and there were flashes of Murray's undeniable talent, but Chela was always in control.
A hugely frustrating day got the better of Murray when he was warned for racquet abuse but it did nothing to change the momentum and Chela wrapped up the win with little fuss.