No Miami final for Murray
Andy Murray, accustomed to going deep into the Miami Open, was
derailed in the third round on Monday, falling 6-7(1) 6-4 6-3 to
Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.
The Scotsman might have sensed trouble was in the air at Crandon
Park after the opening two matches on Stadium court ended in shock
results with women’s world number one Serena Williams and number two
Agnieszka Radwanska both upset victims.
“To be honest, I just
played better in the big moments today,” Dimitrov told reporters. “I had
quite a few opportunities and I used them.
“Even though I lost
the first set, I kept good composure. I had to stay in the match and I
had to be really focused. I’m happy with all those things.”
After
winning a tight opening set by breezing through a 7-1 tie-break, Murray
quickly found himself down a break 2-0 in the second and that was all
the 26th-seeded Dimitrov needed to level the match.
Murray, a
two-times Miami champion who had reached the final three times in the
last four years, grabbed the initiative in the third set, breaking his
Russian opponent to nose ahead 3-1 but a determined Dimitrov broke right
back to get the decisive set back on level terms.
Service breaks
continued with Dimitrov going on top again 4-3 and the Bulgarian
consolidated his advantage by holding serve for a 5-3 lead.
With
Murray serving to stay in the match Dimitrov broke yet again, closing
out the rollercoaster contest on his first match point in two hours 25
minutes.
“(I made) a lot of unforced errors in the third set,”
Murray said. “After winning a close first set you want to try and put
your opponent under pressure.
“Credit to him. He was more solid than me.”
Next up for Dimitrov will be Frenchman Gael Monfils, who hit 13 aces in a 6-3 6-4 win over Pablo Cuevas.
Sixth
seed Kei Nishikori of Japan eased into the fourth round past Ukraine’s
Alexander Dolgopolov 6-2 6-2, while ninth-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried
Tsonga was shown the Crandon Park exit by Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut
2-6 6-3 7-6(3).
Andy Murray, accustomed to going deep into the Miami Open, was
derailed in the third round on Monday, falling 6-7(1) 6-4 6-3 to
Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.
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