Known for his long and gruelling encounters last season, Murray said he wanted to avoid another marathon match against Argentine 30th seed Etcheverry.

Unfortunately for the British number four, it was a quick match for the wrong reasons.

Both of the two previous meetings between the pair - three-set matches which they split on the ATP Tour last season - lasted more than three hours.

This five-set match finished much quicker as the Scot toiled in a worryingly below-par performance.

Murray had his serve broken six times, including twice when he lost the final five games, and did not threaten Etcheverry's serve after the second game of the match.

Having shown little expression throughout, Murray appeared emotional as he waved farewell to all sides of the Kia Arena on his way back to the locker room.

"Whilst you're playing the match, you're obviously trying to control your emotions, focus on the points and everything," the former world number one said.

"When you're one point away from the end, you're like, 'I can't believe this is over so quickly, and like this'.

"I was disappointed with the way I played and all of that stuff. It was a tough, tough way to finish."

Five years ago, the Australian Open played a video montage in tribute to Murray when they thought it would be his last appearance because of an impending hip surgery.

It turned out to be very premature. But if there are many more performances like that this season then Murray will not be back here next year.

"I have an idea of when I would probably like to finish playing. So much of that depends on how you're playing," Murray, a three-time major champion, said.

"The timeframe for that narrows when you play and have results like today.

"I know that Tomas is a really, really good player. I'm aware of that. Even if I play well today, I can still lose the match.

"It's just the nature of the performance that makes you question things."