'Strip him of his knighthood': British fans react to Andy Murray's shock exit

Britain's Andy Murray carries his bags from the court following his fourth round loss to Germany's Mischa Zverev. Photo / AP

Andy Murray's monumental fourth round loss to underdog Mischa Zverev left fans and commentators shell-shocked.

Zverev put on an absolute clinic at Rod Laver Arena, blasting his opponent off the court in four sets 7-5 5-7 6-2 6-4.

The world No. 1 had no answers to the incredible performance, particularly at the net on the volley, dropping the game 7-5 5-7 6-2 6-4.

Murray's form was slammed by Jim Courier, calling his stroke play "atrocious" as he dropped critical points to his opponent.

Fans joined the fray on Twitter, unafraid of holding back on the recently-knighted 29-year-old.

Strip Murray of that knighthood! 😂

— Toby Tarrant (@tobytarrant) January 22, 2017

Take away his knighthood now..

Australian Open 2017: Andy Murray suffers shock defeat by Mischa Zverev - https://t.co/C8O6aiuvAB

— Michael Cook (@cookiem016) January 22, 2017

Remove his knighthood now!! https://t.co/PnvQTmtbty

— Luke Hunter (@LRHunter13) January 22, 2017

So SIR Andy Murray lost to a guy ranked 50th in the world. Good to know he's proving he deserved that knighthood

— Big Nose (@bignoseted) January 22, 2017

Has Andy Murray done anything of significance since he (crazily imo) accepted a knighthood while still playing?

— col (@CoLsmufc) January 22, 2017

"I wanted to go far in this event," Murray said after the match "It is the earliest I have lost here for a long time. Credit to him. He played a really good match."

"It just wasn't meant to be," the Scot said.

"He served very well when he needed to, especially when he was behind in games. He deserved to win.

"He came back from all of the mistakes that he made, kept coming up with great shots. There's not too much you can do about that. It was obviously disappointing to lose. But he did some good stuff out there."

Murray joins Novak Djokovic on the list of stars outed before the quarterfinals, leaving world No. 3 Milos Raonic as the top seeded player in the Men's division.