In the third round of Indian Wells, Andy Murray of the United Kingdom lost in straight sets against Andrey Rublev, the fifth seed from Russia.

Murray, 36, a three-time Grand Slam champion, lost to Rublev 7-6 (7-3), 6-1, in a superb encounter that took place in California.

Murray, who has stated that he does not intend to “play much past this summer” as he contemplates retirement, lost the opening set 5–4, missing four set opportunities.

After losing serve in the fourth game, he soon faded in the second. Murray praised the Indian Wells audience for what he conceded would be his final visit. Murray lost to Rafael Nadal in the 2009 tournament.

He thanked the audience, saying, “I’ve loved coming to this place over the years.” He added that it would not be the same without them, adding that he had been able to “play in some amazing atmospheres and create brilliant memories.”

In other matches, Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner advanced past Thanasi Kokkinakis in straight sets.

The 22-year-old Italian, ranked third in the world, won 6-3, 6-0, and will now play either Croatia’s Borna Coric or German Jan-Lennard Struff in the third round.

The second-seeded and defending winner, Carlos Alcaraz, lost the opening set to Matteo Arnaldi of Italy, but the Spaniard came back to win 6-7 (7-5) 6-0 6-1.

Greek 11th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas upset French qualifier Lucas Pouille 6-3 6-2, while German sixth seed Alexander Zverev defeated Australia’s Christopher O’Connell 6-4 6-4.

Murray fades after a promising beginning. After defeating David Goffin in straight sets to go to the second round, Murray wowed the Indian Wells fans with a superb first set against Rublev. He held serve for a 5-4 lead thanks to a magnificent backhand passing stroke on a pivotal point.

That appeared to be crucial since he kept up his momentum in the next game, scoring four set points in all.

Though Murray showed promise in a 66-minute opening set, Rublev held on and forced a tie-break, which he would win at the second time, to end up losing without a point.

Murray, who had strong support on court two, kept showing glimpses of his talent and defeated Rublev with a well-executed lob as the players battled for the upper hand in the second set.

However, Murray was unable to overcome a third break opportunity as Rublev surged ahead 3-1, becoming the first player to face pressure points in a service game he had led 40-0.—Organizations