Nalbandian ends Murray's winning streak
Andy Murray suffers first defeat in 15 matches to David Nalbandian
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Friday, 31, Oct 2008 10:40
Andy Murray has suffered his first defeat in 15 matches after losing in straight sets to David Nalbandian in the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters.
Murray looked severely jaded at times as he failed to cope with the big-hitting Argentinean throughout, losing 7-6 6-3.
The British number one was in search of his fourth win in his last five tournaments after victories in Cincinnati, Madrid and St Petersburg and reaching the final of the US Open in September.
But fatigue appeared to get the better of the 21-year-old Scot as he failed to live up to his billing as one of the most in-form players on the ATP Tour at the moment.
Murray's first serve never really got going and he surrendered a break in his second service game.
And although he broke back immediately and held out until the tiebreak, Nalbandian looked the fresher and took the decider 7-3.
The second set began in the worst possible way for Murray as a series of long rallies saw the South American, seeded eighth in Paris, break at the first opportunity for a 2-0 lead.
Again, Murray broke back to level at 2-2 but Nalbandian's class was evident as he employed the Scot's favoured weapon - the drop-shot - to great effect on a number of occasions to move clear again.
Nalbandian's 5-2 lead looked to be enough to see him past the world number four, but Murray showed his tenacious streak as he pulled one of the two breaks of serve back to move to within two games.
But again some tired shotmaking from the Scot, and some sublime play from Nalbandian, spelled the end of the youngster's winning streak.