Andy Murray beaten by Teymuraz Gabashvili in Washington

“But It wasn’t like I was blown off the court in a match that I had no chance of winning”.

However, despite Gabashvili’s good serving, Murray said he “usually back[s] [himself] to return better” and he believes “that cost [him] a lot” in the match, which was “pretty frustrating“. “He served well in the big moments, especially in the third set”.

Murray will now play Masters events in Montreal and Cincinnati over the next fortnight ahead of the season’s final Grand Slam. He jumped out to a 4-3 lead, only to see Gabashvili rattle off the next four points to close out the match and upset the third-ranked Murray.

Teymuraz Gabashvili celebrates after defeating Andy Murray in three sets at Rock Creek Tennis Center … “I feel like I put myself in a position to win the match”, Murray said. “It was the first hard-court match for four-and-a-half-months with only 4-5 days of preparation, so I was satisfied with how I moved and did certain things on court”.

“But there are some things for me to improve and hopefully with a few more days and having that match under my belt I’ll be able to make some improvements for the next few weeks”. “I’m confident now. It really helped me”.

“I’m definitely a little more seasoned as a player than I was before”, Chirico said.

Gabashvili, who lost to Murray last year at Shanghai in their only prior meeting, broke the Briton with a backhand victor to take the first set after 45 minutes. This time, he trailed 4-1 at the start against Gabashvili, got back on serve, but then was broken to end the first set.

Murray netted a forehand to give Gabashvili a break chance in the 10th game but the Russian sent a forehand volley long and two points later hit a backhand wide to hand the Scotsman the second set.

Feliciano Lopez ended Lleyton Hewitt’s last appearance in the Citi Open with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 second-round victory Wednesday over the two-time major champion.

German teenager Alexander Zverev came back from a set down to beat fifth-seed Kevin Anderson 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer outlasted Slovenian Blaz Rola 7-6 (7/2), 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, to reach a third-round matchup against Japanese second seed Kei Nishikori.

In the women’s tournament, defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova withdrew, citing an injury to her lower left leg, which allowed Sloane Stephens to move into the quarterfinals.