Later Wednesday, eighth-seeded John Isner met Victor Estrella Burgos, while top-seeded Andy Murray was scheduled to face Teymuraz Gabashvili at night.
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Andy Murray’s preparations for the US Open got off to a poor start when the Briton suffered a stunning 6-4 4-6 7-6 (4) loss to unseeded Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili in the second round of the Citi Open in Washington on Wednesday.
Murray have the ideal chance to win when he found himself serving for the match, however, he could not convert and Gabashvili took advantage in a tie-break.
The top seed broke to take a 4-3 lead as a result, and this was enough to win the second set, despite his opponent seeing a break point as Murray served it out.
Murray said he felt his performance was commendable, despite failing to adapt to the conditions in his first match on the US hard-court swing.
Murray, when visiting the White House in the United States’ capital city, had warned that the Washington Open represented his return to hard-court action after a long absence but he wouldn’t have expected such a rude awakening.
It was a shocking defeat for the 28-year-old Scotsman, who sparked Britain’s Davis Cup team past France in July after a semi-final run at Wimbledon.
Having opted to play an extra tournament in the build-up to this month’s US Open in New York, Murray admits that he will need more time to hit top form.
The world number three admitted that he “struggled with [his] rhythm early“, but gave credit to his opponent for playing his part in “some good rallies” and because “he served well in the big moments“. Pretty frustrating. I was happy with how I moved and did certain things on the court. “I’m confident now. It really helped me”.
“I’m definitely a little more seasoned as a player than I was before”, Chirico said.
“But there are some things for me to improve and hopefully with a few more days and having that match under my belt, I’ll be able to make some improvements for the next few weeks”.
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However, credit must be given to the Russian as he broke back immediately and took the set to a tiebreak, despite Murray being two points away from victory.
