[Sports\biographies]Injured Andy Murray falls to agonising defeat against Machac in Miami Open

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For three hours and 28 minutes, Andy Murray battled with everything he had, even when he almost had ­nothing. First he played brilliantly in the early stages against the talented Tomas Machac, but he just could not find a way to close it out. Then just as the match seemed to be passing him by, Murray mounted an ­incredible comeback. In the final, decisive moments, Murray hurt his left ankle, yet somehow he still ­battled on. In these last months of one of the great careers of this century, the Scot gave yet another demonstration of his resilience and heart, but it still was not enough. He limped out of the Miami Open on Sunday with an agonising 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (5) defeat to Machac in the third round. Andy Murray plays a shot against Matteo Berrettini at the Miami Open ‘Life in the old dog yet’: Murray blasts back to beat Berrettini at Miami Open Read more The defeat alone was ­excruciating, with Murray playing so well and ­giving himself a chance for a big result in one of the most important cities of his career, but he departed ­having encountered the worst ­possible scenario. He must now tend to an injury with the grass-court season just a couple of months away. After an extremely difficult year, where basic wins have been so hard to come by for the first time, ­Murray has played his best tennis of the year in Miami. With his wins over Matteo ­Berrettini and Tomás ­Martín Etcheverry, Murray had won two matches in a row for the first time since August. He was ­attempting to win three matches at a Masters 1000 or above for the first time since ­Wimbledon 2017. A talented 23-year-old Czech ranked No 62, Machac has been gradually rising up the rankings and on Friday he pulled off a career-best win, defeating Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-4 for his first top-10 win. Throughout an excellent first set, Murray served brilliantly, allowing himself easier points and the opportunity to put sustained pressure on his opponent’s serve. He generated nine break points throughout the first set, facing none, before finally ­breaking Machac’s serve. He finished the set with eight aces and supreme 86% of first-serve points won.

sOURCE :https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/mar/24/injured-andy-murray-falls-to-agonising-defeat-against-machac-in-miami-open