Washington, Aug 6 (IANS) Russian tennis player Teymuraz Gabashvili sprung a surprise as he beat World No.3 Andy Murray in the men’s singles second round of the Washington Open here.
The 28-year-old had wanted to play an extra tournament to be ready for this year’s US Open which commences from August 31. But after a bye in the second round, the top seeded Murray lost 4-6, 6-4, 6-7(4) to the 30-year-old World No.53 on Wednesday, reports BBC.
“I was exhausted at the end because my body was really tired,” said the Scot.
Murray will now be featuring in the Masters tournaments in Montreal and Cincinnati in the run up to Flushing Meadows.
The Russian hit 11 aces in the match and made a comeback from 4-5 down in the third set to win the contest in the tie-breaker.
“It wasn’t like I was blown off the court in a match that I had no chance of winning,” said Murray. “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.”