MURRAY CRASHES OUT OF WASHINGTON, D.C., HEWITT FIGHTS BUT BIDS FAREWELL FROM TOURNAMENT

Written by: Staff on 6th August 2015

MURRAY CRASHES OUT OF WASHINGTON, D.C., HEWITT FIGHTS BUT BIDS FAREWELL FROM TOURNAMENT

Great Britain's Andy Murray in action against Russia's Teymuraz Gabashvili during their second round match at the Citi Open tennis tournament in Washington, DC, USA, 05 August 2015. Gabashvili defeated Murray. EPA/SHAWN THEW |

By Ricky Dimon

The top seed in the Citi Open is gone after one match.

Andy Murray lost his opener 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(4) to Teymuraz Gabashvili in front of an entertained Washington, D.C. crowd on Wednesday night. Murray failed to serve it out at 5-4 in the third set and ultimately went down in two hours and 42 minutes.

“It’s obviously a disappointing match to lose, but it wasn’t like I was blown off the court in a match that I had no chance of winning,” Murray commented. “I feel like I put myself in a position to win the match. It was the first hard-court match for four-and-a-half months with only four or five days of preparation, so I was happy with how I moved and did certain things on court.

“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.”

Perhaps he could improve his draw at the next event (Montreal), because Gabashvili–although he may look benign on paper–made for a brutal one. The Russian turned in a near-flawless performance that has to be considered one of the best of his life.

Lleyton Hewitt’s life in Washington, D.C. is a thing of the past after he lost in both singles and doubles on Wednesday. The 34-year-old Australian led Feliciano Lopez by a set and a break only to lose 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt in action against Spain’s Feliciano Lopez during his second round match at the Citi Open tennis tournament in Washington, DC, USA, 05 August 2015. Lopez defeated Hewitt. EPA/SHAWN THEW

In other action, Alexander Zverev knocked out Kevin Anderson 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a big-hitting matchup. The 18-year-old went toe-to-toe with his favored opponent in the power department and played more consistent from the back of the court–at least in the last two sets. Anderson was contesting his first match since losing a two-set lead against Novak Djokovic in the fourth round of Wimbledon.

Yet another three-setter was the most bizarre match of the day: Steve Johnson vs. Bernard Tomic.

Tomic took his on-court antics to a whole new level in a 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-2 loss to the American. The Australian looked mostly uninterested the whole match but would come up with enough timely shots to make it competitive. He laughed almost anytime either player hit a winner and constantly applauded Johnson’s good play.

At one point Tomic even tried to challenge for Johnson. After an apparent Johnson winner was called long, Tomic seemed sure it was good and told the umpire it was well in and that he wanted to challenge. The umpire refused and Tomic kept insisting on a challenge. When the umpire continued to have none of it, the 22-year-old told Johnson to challenge. Johnson also declined, apparently intent on staying completely away from his opponent’s mind games.

Whatever the case, a level-headed Johnson got the job done and will face Grigor Dimitrov in the third round on Thursday.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Alexander Zverev, Andy Murray, Atp World Tour, Bernard Tomic, Citi Open, Feliciano Lopez, GRIGOR DIMITROV, Kevin Anderson, Lleyton Hewitt, Ricky Dimon, Sports Update, Steve Johnson, Tennis News, Teymuraz Gabashvili, Washington D.C.

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10sBalls_com says:

August 6, 2015 at 9:25 am

-@andy_murray CRASHES OUT OF WASHINGTON, D.C., @lleytonhewitt FIGHTS BUT BIDS FAREWELL FROM TOURNAMENT- http://t.co/SmOuhmatgG #CitiOpen