Andy Murray on Sunday exited the Miami Open for the final time 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 more than a year, was enhanced by Murray knowing this week was his final appearance in a city he calls his “tennis home.”
The two-times Miami winner who turns 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.
Photo: AP
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 (7/5).
It had been three hours and 28 minutes of enthralling tennis, arguably the most entertaining of the tournament so far, albeit strangely on the third level, Butch Buchholz court.
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.
“The support was brilliant, they’ve got obviously Americans in the crowd, there’s Brits in the crowd, a lot of Latin Americans as well here who love their tennis and have always given me really great support here,” he said.
“So was a bit more emotional leaving the court today than I might be at some of the other events,” he said.
Meanwhile, world No. 3 Jannik Sinner survived a scare from Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor to moved into the fourth round, while world No. 1 Iga Swiatek kept her nerve to beat 26th-ranked Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 6-4.
In women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, fresh off their BNP Paribas Open victory earlier this month, defeated Cristina Bucsa of Spain and Alexandra Panova of Russia 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 to advance to the quarter-finals.
On Friday, Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and partner Nadiia Kichenok of Ukraine crashed out of the round of 32 with a 6-4, 4-6, 11-9 loss to Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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