Andy Murray’s comeback following hip surgery hit another roadblock after he was beaten 6-1 1-6 6-4 by France’s Lucas Pouille in the first round of the Cincinnati Open.

The former World No.1 has endured a frustrating time since he came back to the ATP circuit in June and had hoped to build on the momentum that had carried him into the quarter-finals of the Citi Open before he pulled out of the Washington tournament citing fatigue.

But it was Pouille, world ranked 17, who proved to be the more resourceful as he claimed his first win in five tries against Murray.

Murray, whose ranking plummeted into the 800s last month but has now risen to 375, has now fallen at the first hurdle in two of the four tournaments he has contested this year.

Australian No.1 Nick Kyrgios, last year’s touanament runner-up, is seeded 15th and will play qualifier Denis Kudla in his first-round match later.

Kyrgios is the only Australian in the tournament after John Millman was forced to retire from his first-round qualifying match.

Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta, Britain’s Kyle Edmund and Japan’s Kei Nishikori were also early first-round winners.

Carreno Busta, seeded 13, outlasted France’s Richard Gasquet 6-3 2-6 6-3, 14th seeded Edmund beat American wildcard Mackenzie McDonald 6-3 6-2 and Nishikori saw off Russia’s Andrey Rublev 7-5 6-3.

The tournament lost its top seed when Spanish World No.1 Rafael Nadal withdrew after winning the Rogers Cup on Sunday.

It means World No.2 Roger Federer, who skipped the Toronto event, is now the highest seed in Cincinnati.

The second-seeded Swiss, has won in Cincinnati a record seven times but hasn’t played there since winning in 2015.