Andy Murray's brilliant winning run on tennis return comes to an end in defeat in the first round at Eastbourne

Murray and Marcelo Melo were beaten 6-2, 6-3 by top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah

Andy Murray's winning return came to an end at Eastbourne (Getty)

Following his win in the Queen’s Club final alongside Feliciano Lopez, Andy Murray has crashed out of the Eastbourne International in the first round.

The former world number one and makeshift partner Marcelo Melo of Brazil were comfortably beaten 6-2, 6-3 by Colombian top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah.

The Brit impressed on his first match since his hip operation in January at Queen’s and grew into the tournament alongside Lopez and impressed in the final.

However, Murray is clearly by no means close to being back to his best, or even a fraction of it, and that was bothering him on Tuesday evening as he repeatedly let out loud cries of frustration when not able to perform as he wished.

He struggled on serve, being broken three times out of four during the defeat against Cabal and Farah.

He now has to weigh up whether to return to singles tennis, and the recent evidence suggests he could, although it also points to a perhaps longer and more prosperous career in doubles.

Murray will team up with multiple doubles Grand Slam champion Pierre-Hugues Herbert at Wimbledon, which starts on Monday, but is still searching for a female partner for the mixed doubles event.