For three hours and twenty-eight minutes, Andy Murray battles with everything he has, even when he has next to nothing. First, he looked great in the early stages against the talented Tomas Machac, but he just couldn’t find a way to end the game. Then, just when the game seemed to be passing him by, Murray pulled off an incredible comeback. In the final decisive moment, Murray injured his left ankle, but he still insisted on fighting.
The Scot once again showed his resilience and courage in the final months of one of the greatest careers of this century, but it wasn’t enough. He limped out of the Miami Open on Sunday after losing painfully to Machak 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (5) in the third round.
The defeat alone was unbearable, Murray played so well and gave himself the opportunity to do well in one of the most important cities of his career, but he left in the worst possible circumstances. With just a few months left before the grass court season, he now has to deal with injuries. After an extremely difficult year, Murray played his best tennis of the year for the first time in Miami. With wins over Matteo Berrettini and Thomas Martin Echeverri, Murray has won back-to-back matches for the first time since August. He is trying to win three Masters matches of 1,000 or more for the first time since Wimbledon in 2017.
Machak, a talented 23-year-old Czech ranked No. 62, has gradually moved up the rankings and on Friday he had his best career win, defeating Andrei Roux 6-4, 6-4. Bulev, this is his first time in the top ten.
In a stellar first set, Murray served well, allowing himself easy points and opportunities to put sustained pressure on his opponent’s serve. He created nine break points in the first set but eventually broke Macak’s serve. He ended the set with eight aces and a first-serve scoring rate of 86%.
In the 2-1 loss to Machachi in the second set, heavy rain delayed the match for 35 minutes and the players were forced to leave the court and return to another match. Although the Czech continued to attack in the second set, seizing every opportunity to force the net and easily hold serve, the pressure on Murray’s serve increased. In the second set, he hit just 46 percent of his first serve, which gave Machak too much attention on his second serve, which he pounced on.
After the game, Murray yelled at referee Carlos Bernardes, furious after the two men disagreed over whether fans should be moved during the game. Most of all, he was angry with himself. He couldn’t shake off the negative momentum at the beginning of the deciding set, and Machac led 3-0 in a blink of an eye.
Despite this, he fought hard to the end, and after Machak served for a 5-3 lead, scoring three break points in a row, the Englishman dragged the match back on serve. However, just as Murray held serve to tie the score at 5-5, his left ankle landed awkwardly and immediately stopped in pain. Murray limped to a chair and was seen by a physiotherapist, but he chose not to put a bandage on his ankle.
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Murray may have been moving at half speed until the end of the game, but Murray refused to give in. He saved match points on his own serve while constantly calling on the crowd to support him. After holding serve, he forced his serve into a final set tiebreaker, eventually leading 5-4. But this is not enough. Machak held his own and scored the final three points to end an unforgettable game.
In her first full match since turning 20, Coco Gauff continued to show off her consistency and problem-solving skills as she recovered from a break point at 2-4 before winning ten straight games with one shot Entering the fourth round of the Miami Open. Defeated France’s Oceana Dodin 6-4, 6-0. Katie Boult defeated No. 11 seed Beatrice Haddad Maia 6-2, 6-3 in the early hours of Sunday to advance to the fourth round.
