Frenchman Gilles Simon has conceded that he went into his Australian Open clash against Andy Murray earlier today in the knowledge that he had very little chance of winning.

There had been doubts as to whether or not Simon would be fit enough to play following his five-set encounter with Gael Monfils in the previous round, which had left the 28-year-old exhausted.

Despite making an appearance at Melbourne Park against the British number one, Simon admitted that he was not surprised by the fact that he lost 6-3 6-1 6-3.

"I just did all I could for the last two days to be able to play this one," said the number 14 seed.

"It was a painful hour and a half on the court. But, you know, Andy is anyway a very good player so it's always very hard to beat him. Without being 100% you have almost no chance to do it."

Simon previously reached the quarter-finals in Australia back in 2009.