Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Pouille upset Murray in Cincinnati

Pouille upset Murray in Cincinnati

Andy Murray was beaten 6-1 1-6 6-4 by Lucas Pouille in the first round of the Cincinnati Open.

The Scot went under the knife in January but has had a frustrating time since he came back to the ATP circuit in June.

The former world number one had hoped to build on the momentum that had carried him into the quarter-finals of the Citi Open before he pulled out of the Washington tournament citing fatigue.

But it was world number 17 Pouille who proved to be the more resourceful as he claimed his first win in five tries against Murray.

Murray, whose ranking plummeted into the 800s last month but has now risen to 375, has fallen at the first hurdle in two of the four tournaments he has contested this year.

"I only lost four more points in the match than him," said Murray, who won 82 points to Pouille's 86.

"It was tight. He's a top 20 player. If I can improve by 10, 15 percent, you turn a lot of those matches around."

Pouille said he was pleased with how he fought against the former world number one.

"I'm very happy, especially with the way I fought until the end," he said.

"I tried to do my best in the third set and then until the end I played very aggressive and I'm very pleased with that."