Today's Edition
Miami (AFP)
Andy Murray exited the Miami Open for the final time on Sunday and in characteristic style he did so with a performance full of grit and skill but also plenty of passion.
The emotion of the game itself, a missed chance for a third straight win in a tournament for the first time in over a year, was enhanced by Murray knowing this week was his final appearance in a city he calls his “tennis home”.
The two-time Miami winner, who will be 37 in May, lost out in a thrilling third set tie-break to Czech Tomas Machac, managing to battle on after receiving treatment for an ankle injury.
The Scotsman had saved match point in the third before forcing a tie-break, which he led 5-3 before Machac delivered some killer blows to win 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (5) in a match of enthralling tennis that lasted three hours and 28 minutes.
“Obviously a disappointing finish for me but brilliant crowd, brilliant atmosphere, very tight match,” said Murray. “I was obviously a couple of points away from finishing it and to be fair to him he came out with some big shots, played high risk tennis and that paid off for him today,” said the Briton who is fighting back for couple of years from a hip surgery.
Murray’s injury, late in the third set, saw him hop off the court in agony with what at first looked to be a possible Achilles tendon injury but later turned out to be merely a very painful ankle sprain.
“It’s been pretty positive, there were some good signs in my game, definitely an improvement on the last few tournaments, not perfect but considering everything to be winning matches against the players I did and pushing Thomas like I did today, I’m proud of myself because it’s extremely difficult to do what I’m doing with the issue that I have.
“To still be able to compete with these guys is a credit to myself and the work that I’ve done,” he said.
Murray has for years done the bulk of his off-season training in Miami and says he has developed a genuine fondness for the area.
“Miami has been a special place for me during my career. It’s been my tennis home really. I’ve done so much of my work and training and preparation here. I love the city,” he said.
Before leaving the court, he showed his appreciation to a crowd that had willed him on, chanting and cheering for him throughout the long battle with Machac.
Swiatek Serves Win
Meanwhile, world No.1 Iga Swiatek kept her nerve to beat 26th-ranked Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-4 in the concurrent WTA event.
The Czech had upset Swiatek in the third round of the Australian Open before the four-time Grand Slam winner gained revenge at Indian Wells.
The third meeting this year between the pair was, not surprisingly, a tight affair. Having worked hard to recover from her opening set tie-break loss and taken the match into a deciding frame, Swiatek found herself facing three break points when serving for the match up 5-4.
But she stepped up her game to win the next five points and celebrated with a fist-pumping gesture to her box. “I’m happy that after first set I had better idea on what to do, and I just tried to do that in important moments. Sometimes we have matches like that and we need to figure out how to close them anyway,” Swiatek said.
Swiatek, who is looking to become just the second woman to win the “Sunshine Double” of Indian Wells and Miami, will face 14th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the Round of 16. Alexandrova went through with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
France’s Caroline Garcia progressed to a fourth-round match against world No.3 Coco Gauff with a 7-6 (4), 7-5 win over Naomi Osaka.
