Andy Murray has failed to defend his Aegon Championship title at Queen's after losing 7-6(10) 6-2 to Radek Stepanek in the third round of the tournament.

The Wimbledon champion, who recently appointed Amelie Mauresmo as part of his coaching team, stormed out of the blocks by breaking his opponent at the first time of asking.

However, Stepanek was able to break back instantly, and from then on, games went by way of serve in numerous tight encounters.

The first set was decided with a battling tie-break, which Stepanek was able to just edge ahead of the Scotsman 12-10 to give himself the lead in London.

It was a poor reply from Murray in the second set as Stepanek secured a break of serve in the opening game, leaving Murray on the back foot.

Stepanek was able to take a strong lead in the second set by securing another break from a game that was brought to deuce three times, until he took a 5-2 lead and served out the match.