ANDY Murray is out of the Open Sabadell Atlantico Barcelona at the second-round stage after failing to take advantage of a handful of break points in his 6-4, 6-4 defeat to Mario Ancic yesterday.
It is the third time the 20-year-old British No1 has crossed swords with the Croatian this year and the second time he has come off on the losing side, following victory in the final of the Marseille Open and defeat in Miami last month.
But despit
e Murray holding his own for much of the match after a slack start, his opponent, a former top ten player who is now ranked 51st in the world following a series of injuries, proved more clinical when he had the opportunity.
Ancic took first serve, holding, then breaking to take the first two games – Murray handing him the second with a double-fault. He then closed out a third game on the bounce, almost without resistance, sealing the game with an ace and leaving Murray under almost immediate pressure.
The onslaught continued as Ancic took the first point against serve in the fourth game and pushed his opponent all the way, taking Murray to deuce. This time, though, Murray was up to the challenge and won successive points to get on the scoreboard for the first time.
But the Scot could exert no such pressure on Ancic's serve, winning just one point as the 24-year-old cruised to a 4-1 lead. Murray continued to struggle with his serve and was penalised for a second double-fault in the sixth game, but he rallied well and lost only that exchange as he made it 4-2.
Murray took that momentum forward to go to break point in the following game, but that lasted just one point as Ancic quickly brought it back to deuce. The Croat won the next, but was also brought level in what was shaping up to be the set's decisive game. The pendulum continued to swing, Murray earning – and losing – another break point before finally taking the game.
He then claimed successive games for the first time to make it four games apiece. Ancic took his fifth service decisively and Murray looked set to follow suit before he slumped from 40-0 up to set point down. Ancic took the game – and the first set – 6-4 at the second attempt. He held serve in the first game of the second set without trouble, while Murray laboured in winning his next game, despite producing a first ace of the match.
Murray earned a pair of break points in the next game, but spurned them both to allow Ancic to move to 2-1 up with a third ace of his own. The next three games passed briskly and followed serve before a lengthy battle of Ancic's fourth service game. Murray got as far as deuce, but his opponent held on bravely.
Murray won the next, and once again tested Ancic's serve in a mammoth ninth game, eventually losing another break point on his way to going 5-4 behind. Ancic finished the stronger, breaking once again to make it 6-4, 6-4.
Murray later insisted that he was unable to motivate himself sufficiently to win, and now hopes to get his French Open preparation back on track in his remaining two warm-up tournaments.
"I was flat. I was going to be here practising anyway, so I had hoped to get a few matches. But my priority is to train for Rome and Hamburg. I wanted to continue from last week, but it is not the be-all and end-all," he told BBC Sport.
"I didn't get that fired up for the match. I've got four or five days to get ready for Rome. It and Hamburg are the most important ones going into the French Open."
Third seed David Nalbandian recovered from a shocking start to beat Argentine compatriot Agustin Calleri 1-6, 7-6, 6-3 and become the first man into the third round. Calleri, a semi-finalist here last year, raced through the first set in 26 minutes. Nalbandian served poorly and allowed his opponent, ranked 60, to take the initiative.
Nalbandian then squandered a 4-0 lead in the second set and was forced into a tiebreak which he won 7-2. He broke the Calleri serve in the first game of the decider and repeated the feat in the ninth game to clinch victory.
Guillermo Coria's struggle to regain top form after injury continued. He was beaten 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 by Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili in the first round. The Argentine, beset by shoulder problems and playing with an injury-protected ranking of 105, led 4-2 in the decider, but could not close out the match.
The full article contains 812 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
