Murray Out of Western & Southern Open in Third Round
16th August 2012
Andy Murray's defence of his Cincinnati crown was ended in the third round following a 6-4, 6-4 defeat to Frenchman Jeremy Chardy.
The British number one, who looked impressive in his second round win over Sam Querrey, wasn't able to replicate his recent good form as he was beaten after one hour and 38 minutes on court.
"I didn't serve particularly well. I got broken three times in the second set, which isn't good enough. I broke him a couple of times in the second," said Murray afterwards.
"I had a lot of close games on his serve in the first and second set and didn't convert enough chances, and, yeah, I didn't serve well enough."
Chardy gained the advantage with a break of serve for a 4-2 lead which he went on to convert for a one set lead.
After five consecutive breaks of serve at the start of the second set the world number 38 managed to hold for a 4-2 lead before going on to claim his second big result of the week having already knocked out Andy Roddick.
Murray will now turn his attention to preparation for the final Grand Slam tournament of the season, the US Open in New York at the end of this month.
"I won't play any more matches. Going into the big tournaments, sometimes I've won tournaments in the buildup and it hasn't helped me and then this year Wimbledon I lost in the first round at Queen's and made the final there for the first time," he added.
"So it doesn't normally have that much bearing. But, you know, obviously I would have liked to have done a bit better this week."
15/08/12
Andy Murray has progressed to the last 16 of the Cincinnati Open with a 6-2, 6-4 win over American Sam Querrey.
The British number one, who is defending his title this week following victory over Novak Djokovic in last year's final, showed no signs of the knee injury that forced him out of last week's Toronto Masters as he sealed his safe passage to the third round where he will take on the Frenchman Jeremy Chardy.
Chardy, a luck loser into the draw, has already upset 2012 AEGON International winner Andy Roddick and Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin.
Murray, who won gold in the men's singles and silver in the mixed doubles at London 2012, beat an in-form Querrey in just 75 minutes.
"He's had some good wins, so I was expecting a tough match," said Murray. "I think that helped me. Was very sharp right at the beginning of the match. I needed to be, and it was a good start to the tournament."
Meanwhile in the doubles Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins were defeated 6-4, 6-4 by Juan Sebastian Cabal and Bruno Soares.