Former world number one Andy Murray was left frustrated after physically fading on his way to a first-round exit at the Citi Open with a 7-6 (10-8) 4-6 6-1 loss to Mikael Ymer on Tuesday.
The three-time Grand Slam winner failed to convert four set points in the first set before the Swede triumphed in two hours and 50 minutes.
The match was full of momentum swings, with the 35-year-old capitalising on Ymer's own physical issues, appearing to cramp in the second set, to level it up after winning five of the final six games of the set.
But 23-year-old Ymer regained his composure and physical state to race away with the third set for victory, rounding out 37 winners for the match, leaving Murray frustrated.
"It was disappointing obviously," Murray told reporters. "I thought there was some good tennis in the first set. After that, both of us were struggling a bit physically. The level of the tennis was not great.
"Obviously [I] had chances in the first set to close that out. I had set point at 6-5, then... three in the tie-break and didn't get it.
"I think he seemed like maybe he was cramping a little bit in the second set, but recovered absolutely fine after the break at the end of the [second] set.
"Went off to change and cool off a little bit, and he recovered well for the third, whereas I didn't really. Yeah, just frustrating."
The first-round exit comes after Murray lost in the Hall of Fame Open quarter-finals in Newport to Alexander Bublik when he cramped up in hot and humid conditions.
"Struggled a little bit the past two tournaments with that," he said. "I need to have a little look at that with my team and maybe see why that is, make a few changes."
French veteran Adrian Mannarino took care of Bradley Klahn 6-2 6-4, while Jack Draper beat Stefan Kozlov 7-5 6-2 to set up a second-round date with top seed Andrey Rublev.
World number 112 Benoit Paire also triumphed in the first round on Tuesday, getting past Peter Gojowczyk 7-5 6-4.
Kyle Edmund, Jack Draper, Borna Gojo, Dominik Koepfer, J.J Wolf and Denis Kudla also were victorious, with Alexei Popyrin progressing after a walkover against Wu Tung-lin.
Sinner behind only Nadal and Djokovic after speeding to year-end number one
Jannik Sinner confirmed his place at the top of the ATP year-end world rankings, with only two players in history having done so quicker.
Sinner had actually sealed his spot at the summit with his semi-final victory over Tomas Machac before defeating Novak Djokovic 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 to win the Shanghai Masters title on Sunday.
On the back of his title run, Sinner – who picked up 910 points to move to a grand total of 11,920 – has opened up an unassailable 4,800-point lead over Carlos Alcaraz in the standings.
And only Djokovic and the soon-to-be-retired Nadal have managed to seal the year-end number-one spot earlier in a season than Sinner, since the ATP rankings were modified in 2009.
Djokovic was crowned as 2015's year-end number one on September 14, while Nadal secured that position for the 2010 rankings on October 9 of that year.
Sinner has won 65 of his 71 Tour-level matches this year, and claimed seven trophies, including the Australian Open and US Open.
The 23-year-old is the 19th player to claim the year-end world number-one ranking and just the fourth active player, joining Djokovic, Nadal and Alcaraz.
He has already held top spot for 17 weeks, and ranks 18th among the 29 players who have reached world number one for weeks spent at the top of the pile.
Kyrgios wants to 'shut up' doubters with grand slam win
Nick Kyrgios is planning to make a comeback in December and has ambitions to win a grand slam in order to "shut up" his doubters.
The Australian has suffered with wrist, knee and foot injuries over the last two years, playing just one ATP Tour singles match in that period.
He lost in straight sets on that occasion to Wu Yibing in Stuttgart in June 2023 and has not played since.
Though he has hinted at retirement in the past, he is now planning for his return at the World Tennis League event in Abu Dhabi later this year before the Australian Open in January.
He has previously reached one grand slam final in singles, losing in four sets to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon in 2022, and Kyrgios has a clear plan of what he wants to come out of his return to the sport.
"I am coming back because something is keeping me around the game," he told News Corp's Code Sports podcast.
"I have beaten pretty much every person that has been put in front of me, made a final of a grand slam, won a doubles title in a grand slam, won multiple titles and made money.
"But I think the one thing that is now on my target is a grand slam. I think that will be the only thing that will shut people up at the end of the day.
"That'll be my deep motivation."
Kyrgios earned a reputation for his outbursts and meltdowns early on in his career, with some writing him off due to his temperament.
However, the 29-year-old has brushed off the idea that he was a "bad boy".
"I guess I was branded that just because I was a bit outside the circle of what a normal tennis player is," he said.
"I don't think I carry that perception with the Aussie public anymore. But at the start of my career, people thought I was like a murderer."
Retiring Nadal deserves everything in the world for sacrifices, says Lorenzo
Rafael Nadal deserves "everything in this world" in his retirement after the sacrifices he made during his tennis career, says former Moto GP world champion Jorge Lorenzo.
Nadal officially confirmed his departure from the sport earlier this week, with his glittering 23-year spell on the court set to end after November's Davis Cup Finals in Malaga.
The Spaniard has lifted 22 major titles, a total only bettered by Margaret Court, Novak Djokovic (both 24) and Serena Williams (23) in tennis history.
An astonishing 14 of those came at the French Open, which is the most of any player at a single grand slam in history, leading him to be dubbed 'The King of Clay' at Roland-Garros.
Nadal's 112 French Open wins are the most of any man at a single major in the Open Era, while his 14-0 record in Roland-Garros finals is the best recorded by anyone at an event in that span.
Nadal is the latest of the 'Big Four' to announce their departure from the sport after Andy Murray earlier this year, along with Roger Federer in 2022, with Djokovic the only one still playing.
Lorenzo, a five-time world champion who retired from motorsport five years ago, shared his experiences since leaving the track and what the future has in store for Nadal.
"Everyone experiences [retirement] in a different way," Lorenzo told Stats Perform at Festival dello Sport in Trento, Italy.
"It has always been said that many athletes after retirement go into a kind of mini-depression and are a bit sad.
"But in my case, it has been the opposite, I have lived five fantastic years. I have really enjoyed the freedom of being able to choose how and where to use my time.
"And I hope that Rafa is very happy because he deserves everything in this world for what he has sacrificed and for the great example that he has shown as an athlete to the whole society."
Nadal's first grand slam title came at the 2005 edition of Roland-Garros, while the 2022 season saw him triumph in the French capital and at the Australian Open.
He is the only player to win at least one major in 15 different calendar years, and between 2005 and 2014, he never ended a season without a grand slam title.
Nadal finished 13 different years in the top two of the ATP World Rankings, more than any other player throughout the Open Era.
The 38-year-old will bring his storied career to a close on home soil in Malaga, where he will be part of Spain's Davis Cup team which also includes Carlos Alcaraz.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
