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British number one Andy Murray suffered a big blow to his preparation towards the US Open as he bowed out in his opening match of the Citi Open after losing to world no. 53 Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia. The tournament top seed, playing his first match of the North American hard circuit season lost 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-4) in the second round, after recieving a bye in the first.
Murray had his chances in a match which lasted two hours and 42 minutes, as he served for the match at 5-4 in the third and final set, but was broken and then went on to lose the tie-break 7-4. Gabashvili smashed 11 aces during the match, even as he struggled with an injury to the leg during the match.
"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," the double major winner and Olympic champion said after the game. He also became the first top-seeded player to lose his opening match in Washington since Ivan Lendl back in 1993.
With the US Open starting on 31 August, the world number three had chosen to play an extra tournament in the build-up to it. Murray still has the Masters events in Montreal next week, before he finishes off his preparation for Flushing Meadows at the Cincinnati Open.
