Agencies
MIAMI, MARCH 29
Andy Murray lost his temper on the way to a 6-7 6-4 6-3 defeat at the hands of Grigor Dimitrov in the third round of the Miami Open.
Murray struggled through most of the match and his frustration boiled over in the second set, when he repeatedly smashed his racquet against his bag to earn a warning from the umpire.
That came at the low point of the match for Murray, who won the opening set on a tie-break but was never consistently able to deal with the Bulgarian's heavy groundstrokes.
Murray secured the first break of the evening in the third game but, as it would prove throughout the match, he could not take advantage of his lead and gave the break straight back to Dimitrov.
The rest of the set went with serve, and Murray found some inspiration in the tie-break to take a 4-0 lead and take it 7-1 with life suddenly looking rosier for the British No 1 and second seed.But it was Dimitrov who was inspired in the opening game of the second set, breaking Murray to love, and when he made it 3-0 Murray slunk back to his seat and took out his frustrations on his equipment.
There was a response from Murray, who broke to close the deficit to 4-2, and he had a chance when Dimitrov served for the set at 5-4, only to waste a break point and see his opponent level the match on his third set point.
The match was at Murray's mercy early in the decider, with a break seeing him into a 3-1 lead, but just as in the first set he gave that break straight back. Unforced errors continued to pile up for the second seed and Dimitrov broke to lead 4-3, before repeating the dose to close out the match in the ninth game, with Murray clearly in no mood for a battle.
"Coming into the third set I knew Andy is going to run down every shot and he was up a break," Dimitrov told Sky Sports.
"That didn't discourage me but I felt I was striking the ball back and I thought I would get a chance and I saw that opportunity and I was on top of my game when it came. Physically felt fine and so it is on to the next one.
"I have been working a lot, my main goal was to leave myself on the court and that is what I did. I took my opportunities, my break point percentage was high and that gave me a pretty comfortable advantage."
Murray stormed off court as soon as the handshakes had been completed, and will now head back to Europe for the start of the claycourt season, with his next appearance at the Monte Carlo Masters next month.
Top seed Serena Williams crashed out in the fourth round of the Miami Open, losing in three sets to Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Williams battled her way through the first set in a tie-break, but her game went to pieces in the next two sets as the Russian veteran moved into the quarter-finals 6-7 6-1 6-2.
The 34-year-old, a 21-time Grand Slam champion, was seeking her ninth career Miami crown but instead matched her earliest exit at the hardcourt event.
She made an incredible 55 unforced errors, appearing to struggle getting around court, to only 15 from the 15th seed, who won against the world No 1 for the first time since 2009.
"I don't think it's appropriate to criticise my movement right now," Williams said. "I did the best I could. I can't win every match. These players come out and give their best. I have to give 300 percent every match. "It's obviously disappointing, but I have won here a lot, so it's okay."
Williams' defeat was the second shock of Monday's play, with third seed Agnieszka Radwanska also making an early exit.
