LONDON: Andy Murray endured a frustrating return from his injury nightmare as the former world number one was beaten 2-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-5 by temperamental Australian Nick Kyrgios in the Queen's Club first round on Tuesday.
Murray gave an encouraging display in his first competitive match in 11 months after finally recovering from the hip problem that required surgery in January.
But the 31-year-old Scot couldn't secure a fairytale comeback as Kyrgios hit back to knock out the five-time winner of the Wimbledon warm-up event.
Finally back on court for the first time since a Wimbledon quarter-final defeat against Sam Querrey 342 days ago, Murray had low expectations of his return after several aborted comeback attempts.
But the two-time Wimbledon champion, whose ranking has plummeted to 156, will have taken heart from the way he competed, even if there were signs of rust in his shot-making and movement at times.
Kyrgios has been accused of 'tanking' (losing without trying) in the past when matches have slipped away with little effort.
And just days after the world number 21 almost beat Roger Federer in Stuttgart, he sabotaged himself with a series of bizarrely loose shots in the first set.
Former British player Andrew Castle, commentating on the match for the BBC, said: "This is a tank from Kyrgios.
"He's just hitting the ball as hard as he can. That's fine but don't expect us not to call it because it is."
But Kyrgios insisted his initial sloppy play was due to a hip injury.
"Two-All in the first set I split-stepped and my hip just kind of pinched a little bit. I was kind of dealing with a little bit of pain for the whole match," he said.
Murray gradually ran out of steam despite Kyrgios's antics as the Australian beat him for the first time in six attempts.
"It was strange because on big points, when I won them, I almost felt bad if I showed any emotion," Kyrgios said of playing his friend.
"I didn't really want to get into his grill at all.
"I thought he might have been a little bit nervous. He would have never doubled on match point when I played him years ago.
"But that was his first match back. He returns unbelievable. Everything is the same, really. Just he's got to get matches under his belt."
Watched by wife Kim and mum Judy, Murray was given a rousing reception as he walked onto the court and responded with a bashful wave to the crowd.
Murray had described his protracted rehabilitation, which featured only two exhibitions outings since Wimbledon last year, as the toughest spell of his career -- a painful period of absence he said had reaffirmed his love for the sport.
Cathartic
All the demons from those anxious medical updates and gruelling hours in the gym could finally be exorcised as Murray traded ground-strokes with Kyrgios from the baseline before capping the first point of his return with a cathartic forehand winner.
When Kyrgios tried an optimistic half-volley from the baseline, Murray scampered to the net to meet with a superb winner that proved his desire remains as strong as ever.
Murray's returns were driving Kyrgios to distraction -- not that he needs much excuse to lose focus -- and a double fault gave the three-time Grand Slam champion the first break for a 4-2 lead that sealed the first set.
Murray recovered from 4-2 down in the second set to force a tie-break, but a refocused Kyrgios took it to earn a deciding set.
Inevitably labouring as the match passed two and a half hours, Murray refused to surrender to his aching body and dug deep to save two match points at 4-5.
But fatigue finally got the better of him when a tired double fault handed Kyrgios a win that leaves Murray to concentrate on building his stamina ahead of next month's Wimbledon.