Sir Andy Murray was apprehensive about his future after his humbling defeat at the hands of Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel at the Australian Open.
Despite being ranked outside the world's top 100, Murray's campaign started impressively in Melbourne, with the former finalist showing all of his iconic resilience to beat 21st seed Nikoloz Basilashvili in five sets.
And he was widely expected to prevail against Daniel, 28, who had previously never been beyond the second round of a Grand Slam.
But Murray failed to produce the tenacity of his first round display and was comprehensively outplayed, going down 6-4 6-4 6-4 at the John Cain Arena in what marked his first ever defeat against a qualifier in a Slam event.
The disconsolate look the former world no 1 shot towards his box spoke volumes, and despite giving a thumbs up to acknowledge the crowd as he left court, was shaking his head as he made his exit.
Afterwards, the 34-year-old, who has already defied odds by returning to professional action after twice undergoing hip surgery, was asked if he would be returning down under in 2023.
"Yeah, I mean, yeah, but not if I do what I did tonight too often this season," was his non-committal reply.
"This is a really important year for me for a number of reasons, and I want to perform well in the big events.
"For me, tonight is not good enough in that respect."
In the build-up to the Australian Open, Murray was beaten by Aslan Karatsev in the final of the Sydney International Classic, his first ATP final in almost three years.
However, despite recent improvements, the three-time Grand Slam winner hinted he would consider his future if he could no longer make an impact at major tournaments.
"Making the second round of Slams is not something I find particularly motivating," he continued.
"I want to be doing better than that. I'm really, really disappointed. Very frustrated.
"Tough loss for me, that's for sure."
In contrary, Daniel didn't try and conceal his delight having taken one of the biggest scalps of his career.
"Winning a big match like this is unbelievable," he said afterwards.
"It was an amazing level from me, I was getting nervous in the third set.
"I tried not to make a big deal about this - everyone said I was playing Murray - but I tried to treat it like another match."
