Murray loses Cincinnati opener, Djokovic advances

Andy Murray’s comeback from hip surgery hit another roadblock when he was beaten by France’s Lucas Pouille in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters.

Pouille, the world No.17, proved to be the more resourceful as he claimed his first win in five tries against Murray by a 6-1 1-6 6-4 scoreline.

Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic needed nine match points before seeing off American Steve Johnson 6-4 7-6(4), while three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka beat 12th seed Diego Schwartzman 6-2 4-6 6-3.

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And in a battle of the big servers, Sam Querrey upset ninth seed and fellow American John Isner 6-4 6-7(5) 7-6(5).

Pouille, the No.16 seed, has been struggling for form throughout 2018, with a lukewarm win-loss record of 20-15 upon arrival at Cincinnati. He had lost four of his past six matches.

Yet his one-hour, 53-minute victory over the three-time major champion moved him through to a second-round meeting with Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer.

Murray, a former world No.1, has endured a somewhat frustrating time since he came back to the ATP Tour in June after 11 months out.

The Scot had hoped to build on the momentum leading into the US Open after a run to the quarterfinals of the Citi Open before he pulled out of the Washington tournament – and the subsequent Masters event in Toronto last week – citing fatigue.

“The start of the match was not good. It was a pretty bad first set,” he said. “After that, it was a little better.

“I only lost four more points in the match than him. It was tight. He’s a top-20 player. If I can improve by 10, 15 per cent, you turn a lot of those matches around.”

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Murray, whose ranking plummeted into the 800s last month but has now improved to No.375, has fallen at the first hurdle in two of the four tournaments he has contested this year.

He also went down in the first round of the Queen’s Club tournament – his first event back – to Australian No.1 Nick Kyrgios.

Later on Monday, Djokovic appeared to be cruising when he built a 6-4 3-0 lead over Johnson in centre court’s night session.

Yet the American, backed by an atmospheric crowd, reeled off the next four games to firmly reinsert himself into the contest.

Leading 5-4 and with Johnson serving, Djokovic was unable to convert any of his five match points in a tense 10th game, and also failed to convert another two when leading 5-6, 15-40.

In a tiebreak where the majority of points went against the serve, the Wimbledon champion forged a 6-3 lead and finally sealed victory after more than two hours on court.

“I’m not really satisfied with my performance, to be honest,” Djokovic admitted.

“I thought for parts of the match I played well but I should have done better, especially when I was having match points to close out the match.

“But on a brighter side I managed to stay calm and focused and play some really good points in the tiebreak.”

Next up for the Serb is Adrian Mannarino, while Wawrinka set up a blockbuster match in the second round against fellow unseeded star Kei Nishikori after beating Schwartzman.

“Little by little it’s coming back,” said Wawrinka, who last week reached the third round in Toronto.

“I expect some ups and downs the next few weeks, months, because I still know that not everything is back. But the most important [thing] is to keep working, keep doing the right thing, keep pushing in matches, keep winning matches like today.

“Little by little I’m gaining my confidence. I’m finding a way how to play my best tennis. I’m going to put my fitness back. I still have a lot of work to do, but I’m really positive with where I am right now.”

Wawrinka and Nishikori, who beat young gun Andrey Rublev in the first round, have split eight career meetings.

Other first-round winners on Monday included Denis Shapovalov (over Frances Tiafoe), 13th seed Pablo Carreno Busta and Frenchmen Jeremy Chardy and Benoit Paire.