LONDON — Andy Murray was the top-ranked player in the world the last time he played an official tennis match, in the Wimbledon quarterfinals last July.
It would be 342 days until his next match, which came Tuesday at the Queen’s Club ATP tournament, finally completing the longest absence of any top men’s tennis player of his generation.
Now ranked 156th, Murray showed both rust and shine in a 2-6, 7-6(4), 7-5 loss to 21st-ranked Nick Kyrgios.
Murray had hopes of ending his layoff earlier, traveling to both New York and Australia with the aim of competing at the Grand Slam events there in the months since he was sidelined with a persistent hip injury.