Andy Murray suffered a surprise defeat at the semi-final stages of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi.

Murray has enjoyed a prosperous 2016, in which he collected titles at Wimbledon, the Olympics and the ATP World Tour Finals. He also overtook the world number one ranking from his chief rival Novak Djokovic, as well as picking up the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year Award for a third time.

Additionally, Murray lost just nine matches in the 2016 season.

But today he was felled by Belgian and world number 11, David Goffin, an opponent who Murray had not conceded to in their five previous meetings. 

Enfrentará a el belga, David Goffin, quien derrotó a Andy Murray por 7-6 (4) y 6-4. pic.twitter.com/5GJ1qXT8Cm

— Sama Tenis (@SamaTenis) December 30, 2016

Neither man broke serve in the first set, but Goffin took the early initiative with two aces.

After losing out in the opening set, Murray rallied to take a 3-2 lead in the second set. 

Goffin however prevailed on a 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 victory to set up a meeting with Rafael Nadal in the final after he dispatched Milos Raonic 6-1 3-6 6-3 in the other semi-final.

Murray previously won the MWTC exhibition event on two occasions but will not be vying for a third crown this year. Instead, he will face Raonic in the third place play-off match.

Murray will then refocus for the Qatar Open in Doha as he looks toward chasing an elusive first Australian Open title next month.