Murray feels the heat in south California desert
Print Edition
THERE’S something about playing in the southern California desert that bothers Andy Murray.
The No. 2-seeded Murray was upset in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open on Monday, losing 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (3) to 53rd-ranked Federico Delbonis of Argentina.
Murray was a losing finalist at Indian Wells in 2009 and has reached the quarterfinals five times, yet he has never been comfortable with the high bounces and quick-flying balls in the dry air. He’s changed up his preparation over the years, arriving several days early to practice or coming in just before the tournament begins. He even has his rackets strung four or five pounds tighter just for Indian Wells.
None of it has worked.
“I have never really felt that I played my best tennis here,” he said. “I still feel like I can’t really go for my shots. I feel like when I do, I make mistakes long. I have tried many different things. I don’t know exactly why it is.”
Delbonis scored the biggest win of his career, outlasting Murray in a 2-hour, 46-minute struggle. Three years ago, Delbonis defeated then-fifth-ranked Roger Federer in the semifinals at Hamburg.
“With the crowd, it’s a little bit more pressure, but I’m enjoying that kind of matches,” Delbonis said. “It’s like a challenge every time, and I happy to get it.”
The left-handed Argentine rallied from 1-4 down in the third set to level at 4-all and got a break to lead 6-5 before Murray broke back to force the tiebreaker.
Also advancing were No. 3-seeded Stan Wawrinka, a 6-4, 7-6 (5) winner over Andrey Kuznetsov; No. 8 Richard Gasquet, a 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 winner over Alexandr Dolgopolov; and No. 10 Marin Cilic, who beat Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 6-3.
In women’s third-round matches, No. 7 seed Belinda Bencic was upset by Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia, 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, and 2008 winner Ana Ivanovic lost 2-6, 0-6 to 18th-seeded Karolina Pliskova, who improved to 4-0 in her career against Ivanovic.
Victoria Azarenka, the 2012 winner, defeated wildcard Zhang Shuai of China, 6-4, 6-3 while Timea Bacsinszky outlasted Eugenie Bouchard 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
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