SAN DIEGO (AP) — Andy Murray's bid to reach quarterfinals in consecutive weeks ended with a mistake-filled 7-5, 6-4 loss to No. 2 seed Casper Ruud at the San Diego Open on Thursday night.
The match was even at 5-all but turned when Murray, a three-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1-ranked player who is now 109th, allowed the first set to slip away entirely and also fell behind early in the second by dropping five consecutive games.
That included a stretch of seven consecutive unforced errors off the racket of Murray, a 34-year-old who is still working his way back into form after two hip operations and a series of other injuries.
"On the opposite side of the net from me was a legend of the game," said Ruud, a 22-year-old from Norway who is ranked a career-high No. 10 and helped Team Europe win the Laver Cup exhibition event last week.
Ruud called Murray "an inspiration" — both for the way he was a star of the sport in the past and the way he has fought to return from his hip problems. Murray's run at a tournament in Metz, France, last week was his first ATP quarterfinal appearance since October 2019.