WATCH: Andy Murray receives thunderous send-off from Miami Open crowd after intense battle against Tomas Machac in 3R loss
Andy Murray bowed out of the Miami Open 2024 after putting up a tough against the Czech Republic's Tomas Machac in the third round on Sunday, March 24.
Murray remained at loggerheads with Machac for three hours and 25 minutes at Miami Gardens during the three-setter that witnessed a staggering 20 break-point opportunities being created by both players.
The Brit drew first blood as he broke Machac in the 11th game of the match and won the 12th shortly after to claim the opening set. Machac responded in kind with one break of Murray's serve in the following set to level the proceedings.
The deciding set went into a tiebreaker as the two competitors could break each other just once. Murray secured a 5-3 lead in the tiebreaker and looked cruising toward the finish line but Tomas Machac won four points in a row to complete his comeback with a 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(5) win.
The crowd in attendance gave Murray a thunderous send-off as the Brit walked out of the Miami court seemingly for the last time in his career.
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Andy Murray has lifted the Miami Masters trophy twice since turning pro in the year 2005. He triumphed at the tournament in 2009 by defeating Novak Djokovic in the final. His second victory at Miami came four years later when he overcame David Ferrer in the summit clash.
Andy Murray has won 5 matches so far in 2024
Andy Murray's Miami Open exit takes his win-loss record for 2024 to 5-8.
The Brit began this season with a first-round exit at the Brisbane International in the first week of January. A few days later, he faced a similar result at the Australian Open at the hands of Tomas Martin Etcheverry. Furthermore, he remained winless in the next two tournaments in Montpellier and Marseille.
He earned his first win of the season against Alexandre Muller in the first round of the Qatar Open but lost to Jakub Mensik in the very next match. In Dubai, he was able to overcome Denis Shapovalov in his opener but lost to eventual champion Ugo Humbert soon after.
Murray then traveled to Indian Wells but could make it only as far as the second round as Andrey Rublev trumped him 7-6(3), 6-1. The 36-year-old is currently ranked 62nd in the world.