{"id":290997,"date":"2023-09-23T13:36:08","date_gmt":"2023-09-23T13:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/?p=290997"},"modified":"2023-09-23T13:36:08","modified_gmt":"2023-09-23T13:36:08","slug":"andy-murray-crashes-out-of-zhuhai-championships-despite-winning-first-set","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/tennis\/andy-murray-crashes-out-of-zhuhai-championships-despite-winning-first-set\/","title":{"rendered":"Andy Murray crashes out of Zhuhai Championships despite winning first set"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
Andy Murray blew an early lead as he crashed to defeat against Aslan Karatsev in the last 16 of the Zhuhai Championships in China.<\/p>\n
Murray won the first set against his world number 63 opponent but Karatsev fought back to punish the Scot\u2019s inconsistent serve and win 4-6 6-3 6-2.<\/p>\n
It was the first meeting between Murray and the Russian since they faced each other in last year\u2019s final of the Sydney Tennis Classic, which Karatsev won in straight sets.<\/p>\n
But Murray put himself in a strong position to exact revenge after saving four early break points and going on to fashion two breaks and take the opener.<\/p>\n
Murray had jetted to China on the back of helping Great Britain into the Davis Cup quarter-finals and beat wild card Ye Cong Mo in the opening round on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
And fatigue possibly began to take its toll as Karatsev put himself in a dominant position in the second set, going 4-1 up. Despite a mini Murray revival, he held on to level the match.<\/p>\n
Karatsev stepped up a gear in the decider, reeling off two consecutive breaks to take a 4-0 advantage which Murray never looked likely to recover.<\/p>\n