Andy Murray suffered a third set ankle injury and a dramatic third round defeat 7-5, 5-7, 6-7 (5) to Tomas Machac in the Miami Open.
The former World No. 1 had been showing signs of his best form following a slow start to 2024, which is expected to be his swansong season.
In a solid first set Murray secured his ninth break point to lead 6-5 and then served out to love.
The match had a thirty minute rain delay in the second set with Murray becoming increasingly agitated by crowd movement during his serve and snapped at umpire Carlos Bernardes.
At one point as he returned to his seat he shouted “Hold grudges! Awful decision!” before the umpire asked him what he was talking about.
A furious Murray roared: “What are YOU talking about? It’s quite obvious when people are standing up between every single serve!”
Machac broke Murray for the first time in the match at 6-5 in the second to level the match.
In the third set the 23-year-old Czech was broken when serving for the match at 5-3.
36-year-old Murray went to ground at the net with an ankle injury and needed treatment from the physio after hitting a winner to level things up at 5-5 and took the match into a tiebreak.
The Scot led 5-4 in the breaker but Machac recovered his composure just in time, winning three points in a row to secure victory in three and a half hours.
