DOUBLES DISAPPOINTMENT FOR JAMIE
Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski missed four match points in a disappointing second-round loss in the men’s doubles.
The 14th seeds would have had high hopes of going deep into the tournament after reaching the semi-finals of the US Open last summer but they were beaten 4-6 7-6 (5) 7-6 (12) by American pair Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey.
Murray and Skupski appeared to have the edge throughout but they were unable to hold onto an early break in the third set and then saw three match points disappear at 5-4.
They had one more in the deciding first-to-10-point tie-break but saved six themselves, recovering from 9-5 down only for Querrey to hit an ace on the seventh chance.
Murray said: “Obviously it’s disappointing to lose. We were a bit unlucky at the end how it played out but we had chances in that third set.”
Murray, meanwhile, revealed he was concerned he might fail a drugs test after a visit to Colombia to spend time with his wife Alejandra’s family.
The Scot’s worry stemmed from a positive test returned by world doubles No. 1 Robert Farah, who blamed contaminated meat from his Colombian homeland.
Murray said: “I went to Colombia in December and got tested three days later when I was in Miami. When this news came out I was a bit stressed about what my test would be but I passed it.”
There was better news for Britain’s other representatives in the men’s doubles.
Skupski’s brother, Ken, and partner Santiago Gonzalez beat second seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo 7-5 7-6 (4), while Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram defeated Tennys Sandgren and Jackson Withrow 6-3 6-3.
Scot Jonny O’Mara was already through with partner Marcelo Arevalo.