Andrey Rublev defeated Britain’s Andy Murray in straight sets in the third round at Indian Wells in California. Murray, a three-time Grand Slam champion, was beaten 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 by fifth seed Rublev in a high-quality match. Murray, who is considering retirement and has said he is not planning to “play much past this summer”, missed four set points when leading the first set 5-4. He then quickly faded in the second after losing serve in the fourth game. Rublev, who won an appeal after being defaulted from last week’s Dubai Tennis Championships, eventually took his fourth match point to wrap up the victory.
Murray thanked the Indian Wells crowd on what he acknowledged would be his final visit. “I’ve loved coming to this place over the years,” he said, praising the support from fans that had allowed him “to play in some amazing atmospheres and create brilliant memories – because without them it’s not the same.” The 36-year-old finished runner-up to Rafael Nadal at the tournament in 2009.
Elsewhere, other players progressed with straight-set victories. Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner took just 81 minutes to seal a 6-3 6-0 win over Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis and will play either German Jan-Lennard Struff or Croatia’s Borna Coric in the third round. Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, the second seed, dropped the first set against Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi, but the Spaniard recovered to win 6-7 (7-5) 6-0 6-1.
German sixth seed Alexander Zverev won 6-4 6-4 against Australia’s Christopher O’Connell, while Greek 11th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated French qualifier Lucas Pouille 6-3 6-2. Murray hopes to compete at another Olympic Games before retiring, but to achieve that, he must be inside the top 56 of the ATP rankings on 10 June. The two-time Olympic champion, who turns 37 in May, is currently ranked 61st and won just two of his eight matches in the lead-up to Indian Wells
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