Great Britain’s Davis Cup captain Leon Smith stands by Andy Murray after his morale-sapping defeat by Alex de Minaur at the Paris Masters  

• Andy Murray smashed his racket in frustration after defeat at Paris Masters 
• The Scot he failed to close out a lead of 5-2 in the third set on Monday  
• It was the fourth time he had been beaten by Alex de Minaur this year 

At least Andy Murray was not alone in blowing a winning lead in the opening round of the Paris Masters, which saw a trio of results with remarkable parallels.

After the 36-year-old Scot lost to Alex de Minaur having spurned a match point, Richard Gasquet, 37, went out having missed three of them. 

Then, at the ludicrous hour of 2.15am, Stan Wawrinka, 38, also had match point before going down to Dominic Thiem.

Often it is not just the legs that start going with age, it can be the sense of fearlessness which is more the preserve of youth.

Looking on at Murray’s painful exit on Monday was Davis Cup captain Leon Smith, who coached him as a teenager and has been courtside for many wins that were triumphs of nerve. 

Andy Murray smashed his racket in frustration after losing to Alex de Minaur at Paris Masters

Great Britain’s Davis Cup captain Leon Smith has backed Murray to bounce back from defeat

With the Davis Cup finals week looming, and GB in a quarter-final against Serbia, Smith was well aware what a morale-booster it would have been for Murray to beat the player with a unique 6-0 career record over him. 

‘Andy’s a bloody good tennis player and he’s not been far away in some matches,’ said Smith.

‘This would’ve been a good win against the No 13 player in the world, he’s so close to it.

‘There have been moments this year where he could’ve changed things by getting over the line, that will frustrate him. Where do you get confidence from? By winning. There’s a reason to keep pushing, it’s Davis Cup.’

Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz was dealt a blow in his bid to finish the year as world No 1 as he was upset 6-3, 6-4 by Roman Safiullin in the first round in Paris.

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