Murray, Isner, Monfils Out Of Miami Masters; Thiem Thursday

The men’s event at the Miami Masters began on Wednesday and it was a tough day for former champions as two fell. During the day, two-time winner Andy Murray had a bad day at the office falling to Dusan Lajovic 6-4, 7-5.

Murray prevented Lajovic from serving it out a first time at 5-4 in the second, but was broken and couldn’t reprise the act.

“When I didn’t close it out I thought it’s happening again,” Lajovic said thinking how Murray’s comeback so many times already this year. “Honestly that last game I was super right at 40-0 and he was able to put pressure on me. Luckily he shanked the last forehand, which he normally doesn’t do.”

Murray acknowledged his movement was subpar.

“I served pretty well, but the rest of the game was a bit of a problem today. Didn’t really return that well, made a number of errors that obviously I wouldn’t expect to be making,” he said.

“I didn’t really feel like I moved particularly well, which is really important for me, something I’ve been doing very well actually in most of the matches this year. So that was probably the thing.

“Some days you obviously don’t hit the ball your best, but my movement wasn’t great today.”

Murray said he’ll begin training on clay in the coming days with a larger training block in Spain ahead. But gave no clear tournament plans.

In the evening, in a rarity John Isner lost consecutive breakers going down to another American in 21-year-old Emilio Nava 7-6(7-5), 7-6(7-4).

Isner won Miami in 2018 but tonight the veteran who came in unseeded couldn’t handle the youngster off the ground. Nava worked his backhand in the breakers to dictate play and it paid off for his best career win.

Fan favorite Gael Monfils is resumed his comeback from a foot injury but a wrist forced him out early in his match against Ugo Humbert.

JJ Wolf came from an early break down to defeat Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik 7-5, 6-3. Behind a strong serving day, Brandon Nakashima eliminated German Oscar Otte 7-6(7-3), 6-3.

Also, Alexei Popyrin, Emil Ruusuvuori, Marton Fucsovics, Yibing Wu and Ilya Ivashka advanced. Jan-Lennard Struff upended Fabio Fognini 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.

Tomorrow, the first round concludes with Cristian Garin meeting Marcos Giron, Mackenzie McDonald draws Daniel Elahi Galan, Benoit Paire will battle Yosuke Watanuki and former US Open champion Dominic Thiem will challenge Lorenzo Sonego.

THURSDAY MIAMI SCHEDULE
STADIUM
Matches Start At: 12:00 noon
ATP Marcos GIRON (USA) vs [Q] Cristian GARIN (CHI)
Not Before 1:00 PM
WTA Jessica Pegula (USA) [3] vs [Q] Katherine Sebov (CAN)
WTA Rebecca Marino (CAN) vs Coco Gauff (USA) [6]

Not Before 7:00 pm
ATP Lorenzo SONEGO (ITA) vs [WC] Dominic THIEM (AUT)
Not Before 8:30 PM
WTA Elena Rybakina (KAZ) [10] vs Anna Kalinskaya

GRANDSTAND
Matches Start At: 11:00 am
WTA Elise Mertens (BEL) vs Daria Kasatkina [8]
ATP [Q] Christopher EUBANKS (USA) vs Denis KUDLA (USA)
ATP Daniel Elahi GALAN (COL) vs Mackenzie MCDONALD (USA)
ATP Richard GASQUET (FRA) vs [LL] Christopher O’CONNELL (AUS)

Not Before 7:00 PM
WTA Camila Giorgi (ITA) vs Victoria Azarenka [14]

You Might Like:
Nadal, Thiem Join Federer By Withdrawing From Miami
Miami Open Draw: Federer Returns, Could Face Del Potro In Opener; Djokovic Goes For 3-Peat
Favorites Zverev, Tsitsipas Winners In Beijing; Murray v Thiem Friday
Andy Murray Adds Name To Miami Withdrawal List
Former Finalist Isner Out At Indian Wells, Monfils Fall; Murray, Shelton-Fognini Today