Andy Murray added to his ever-growing list of heart-wrenching moments yesterday, as he threw away a one-set lead to lose at the Miami Open.
Although his opponent, Tomas Machac impressed, it was a match that always felt like it was the 36-year-old’s to lose.
And lose it he did, falling to a final-set tiebreak, 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7).
However, the clash was somewhat marred by Murray’s mid-match frustrations, as he exploded towards the chair umpire near the back end of the second set.
But what did he say to the man in the middle, on the receiving end of his fury? We take a closer look…
What Andy Murray said to the chair umpire
A flashpoint clipped up and republished by Sky Sports, it detailed Murray seeking to hold onto his serve despite being 15-40 down in a game that would hand Machac the second set.
Firing his first serve long, he looked up to the chair umpire, Carlos Bernardes, with disdain.
Upon then winning the point on his second serve, he took the break as an opportunity to vent his fury, striding over to the centre of the court whilst professing: ‘Carlos it’s unacceptable mate.’
‘What are you walking about?’ Replied the umpire. Well, Murray did not like that.
‘What do you mean what am I talking about? Do you want me to tell you what I’m talking about? So why are you saying to me what are you talking about?’
The Scotsman had been left frustrated with the movement going on in the crowd behind Machac whilst he was serving, but Bernardes attested that this was something out of his control. Murray would go on to lose the set, and later the match.
Andy Murray loses his cool in loss to Tomas Machac
This might seem somewhat conspiratorial, but it really feels like there’s a correlation between Murray losing his head and venting his anger out in the open and him losing matches.
It happened earlier in his career, to his detriment, and now as his body begins to decline, that frustration has understandably returned.
That is despite offering jovial praise to Carlos Alcaraz just last week.
After all, he remains a top player, just without the physical excellence that made him such a tough player to play against in the past.
Yesterday’s loss hit hard, especially after the length of the match, the drama of his late injury, and the fact he led the final-set tie-break on numerous occasions but was consistently pegged back.
It is just another in a long line of impossibly tough Murray moments from the last few years, who remains a walking miracle purely because he is still playing at all.
However, this latest defeat in Miami will have hit him hard, after he gave his all but fell at the final hurdle.
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