Murray Loses to Milos Raoic in Japan

Written by: Staff on 6th October 2012

Murray Loses to Milos Raoic in Japan

epa03423016 Andy Murray of Britain returns the ball to Milos Raonic of Canada during their semi final match in the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships tournament in Tokyo, Japan, 06 October 2012. Raonic later won the match and advanced to then final. EPA/TOMOYUKI KAYA |

Andy Murray can only look ahead for improvement at this week’s Shanghai Masters after blowing a 4-1 lead in the final set to go down to Canadian Milos Raonic 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-4) at the Japan Open, an event he won last year during a hat-trick sweep of Asian tournaments.

This year, the US Open champion heads to China as holder there with a different state of mind after losing for the first time since his Grand Slam triumph a month ago in New York . Murray takes the third seeding in Shanghai behind Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, with Rafael Nadal still missing with a knee injury.

Murray knew his play against the big-serving Raonic let him down, with a leisurely start setting him back. “I didn’t like my start at all. Milos played well behind his big serve and his first return..

“It was very tough out there for me today, when you don’t start well, your opponent can get confidence and really get into the set. It was a disappointment not to close it out, it all came down to a couple of points in the end and they didn’t go my way.”

Raonic, ranked 15th, set up a pair of Murray match points in the 12th game of the final set, but the Scot was unable to take advantage.

“I was slow off the mark today and I paid for it, this was a tough loss. There was always going to be a bit of residue from the last few months,” said Olympic champion Murray, who made a breakthrough over the summer into the elite.

“Ideally I wouldn’t have liked to start the match like that. That made it tough for me. Now I need to focus on Shanghai — it’s a big tournament. Then Paris and then the Tour Finals in London . That’s the main goal.”