Andy Murray screams in pain moments before rollercoaster Miami Open loss to Tomas Machac | Tennis | Sport

Andy Murray crashed out of the Miami Open minutes after screaming in pain when he pulled up on his ankle. The Brit drew level at 5-5 in the final set after Tomas Machac served for it but he raised concerns when he crouched to the floor and called the physio. Murray decided to continue playing and saved a match point but it was the Czech star who eventually came out on top 5-7 7-5 7-6(5).

Murray came into his third-round match full of confidence after dispatching 29th seed Tomas Etcheverry on Saturday to record back-to-back wins at the same tournament for the first time since August. But Machac had also earned a scalp of his own, upsetting world No. 5 Andrey Rublev in the previous round. The Czech star struggled against the two-time former champion, however, facing break points in his first three service games.

He managed to keep the world No. 62 at bay but a fired-up Murray hung in and finally earned the first break of serve in the penultimate game of the set, roaring and pumping his fist. The 36-year-old fed off the intense crowd support as he closed out the opening set 7-5, enjoying another dominant day on serve.

With Murray serving at 1-2 in the second set, the match was suddenly suspended for some unexpected rainfall. The players were back out within 40 minutes and Murray quickly blew another break point chance before finding himself in trouble. While serving at 4-5 down, Machac earned his first break points of the match – two set points.

The former world No. 1 became distracted by some movement in the crowd during the crucial moment and complained to the umpire but he still managed to save both set points and it was Machac’s turn to grow rattled after blowing a huge opportunity.

There was more drama when Murray received a time violation and he continued to complain about people walking around the court. But he got himself out of the game unscathed, shouting: “Let’s go”. Machac continued plugging away and had another set point at 6-5. This time, Murray failed to save it and he was dragged into a decider, continuing to complain about people moving in the stands. 

After such a strong showing on his serve in the first set and in yesterday’s match, the shot started to abandon Murray in the final set and he was broken almost immediately. Machac appeared to be running away with it as he led 0-30 in the Brit’s next game but Murray found a new leash of life, reeling off four points in a row as the fans chanted his name.