Scottish Daily Mail

Misery for Murray in Cincinnati

- By MATTHEW LAMBERT

Andy Murray’s comeback faltered last night with a first-round exit at the Cincinnati Masters. Having started dreadfully against Frenchman Lucas Pouille, the 31-year-old scot fought back in the second set but ran out of steam, going down 6-1, 1-6, 6-4.

In the fourth tournament he has played since hip surgery in January, Murray was too inconsiste­nt against a player he had beaten in all four of their previous meetings.

It was a tough first-round draw and the no 16 seed struck 40 winners to Murray’s 15.

The road back from hip trouble to the top of the sport was always going to be a rocky one and this was a let-down after Murray’s stirring exploits in Washington at the start of the month.

The scot fought through three rounds of the Citi Open but pulled out of his quarter-final match after an exhausting last-16 battle.

He also withdrew from last week’s rogers Cup in Toronto and yesterday’s defeat could leave him short of match fitness ahead of the us Open that starts in two weeks. He could accept a wildcard into the Winston-salem Open in north Carolina, which begins on saturday.

However, Murray hinted that he may not play until the us Open.

He said: ‘I’ve played four three-set matches and a couple long ones in Washington and, although I didn’t feel great, I managed to get through them. I’m still quite early in this process and I think that’s the seventh match I’ve played.

‘Hopefully, each week (I’ll) feel better and keep working on things.

‘Hopefully, as the year goes on, there will be more opportunit­ies for me to get a little more consistenc­y on the practice court rather than just compete.’

Murray’s run in Washington ended with him sobbing into his towel after winning a draining clash with romania’s Marius Copil at 3am local time.

The scot seemed to be carrying some of the exhaustion of that match into Cincinnati as he sent down six double faults and 11 unforced errors in the first set.

Pouille broke in the first game of the match and won the opening set with worrying ease.

Murray roused himself in the second set and began to play more on the front foot.

He certainly began to dictate more of the points and Pouille went into his shell.

The first game of the deciding set was a 13-minute epic on the Murray serve and it felt as if whoever could come through would seize decisive momentum.

Pouille was bullying the Murray second serve, which had looked his most vulnerable shot since his return. Facing a second break point and obviously fearing the treatment that another 80mph serve would receive, Murray went for a blast down the middle but found the net for a double fault.

With that break the momentum shifted and Pouille served out to score a significan­t win.

 ?? AP ?? Anguish: Murray in yesterday’s defeat by Pouille
AP Anguish: Murray in yesterday’s defeat by Pouille

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