Andy Murray suffered a crushing first-round exit at the Miami Open with a straight-sets defeat to Dusan Lajovic.
Murray, a two-time winner in Miami, made a series of unforced errors as Lajovic secured a 6-4 7-5 win in one hour and 36 minutes.
The 35-year-old Scot, who last week lost to fellow Brit Jack Draper in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, had break points in the fourth and sixth games of the opening set.
But it was Lajovic, ranked 76 in the world, who struck first by breaking Murray to love in the seventh game before going on to take the opening set in 42 minutes.
The two men continued to trade blows in the second set, and again it was Lajovic who made the opening move when he secured a break in the ninth game to leave him serving for the match.
But with the game tied at 30-30, Lajovic produced his first double fault of the set to allow Murray the opportunity to break back instantly which he grabbed with both hands.
However, a scrappy game followed for an off-colour Murray, with Lajovic prospering to break the former world number one, and have another go at moving into the next round.
And the Serb made no mistake as he saw off a forlorn Murray to secure a second-round date with Maxime Cressy.
“I was able to hustle and get to the deuce at 5-5, and I think he felt the pressure,” said Lajovic.
“This last game I felt super-tight, too. When I was 40-0 up and I missed some first serves he was able to put pressure on, but luckily he missed a shot that he doesn’t normally miss.
“I played a good match and I was very solid on my serving games. When I was able to play more aggressively in his service games I was able to take my chances.”
Murray admitted he had struggled with several aspects of his game.
“Some days you obviously don’t hit the ball your best, but my movement wasn’t great today,” he said.
“I served pretty well, but the rest of the game was a bit of a problem.
“Obviously I was hoping to do much better here. Whether I stay and train here on the clay for a few days before heading to Spain, I’m not sure.”
On a day of exits for British players in Miami – following Emma Raducanu’s earlier defeat – Kyle Edmund also lost.
The former British number one, back in action for the first time since the Australian Open following a series of injury problems, suffered a 7-5 7-5 defeat to China’s Yibing Wu in one hour and 35 minutes.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel