Andy Murray's post-Australian Open slump continued as he lost in straight sets to American qualifier Donald Young at Indian Wells. The world No. 5, who had not won a match since his Australian Open final defeat to Novak Djokovic in January, fell 7-6 6-3 to the 21-year-old ranked 143rd in the world.
Murray, who has failed to reach the quarter-finals in eight tournaments following his Melbourne final defeat last year, struggled with his serve and movement. 'I started well then when it got close to the end of the first set, I didn't do anything particularly well,' said the Scot. 'I didn't do anything to lift myself. He started playing better.'
Young, who had never beaten a top-10 player before, credited his improvement to practising with 40-year-old Pete Sampras. 'He beat me in a groundstroke game. He told me he expected to see good things from me. I took it to heart,' Young said.
In contrast, Rafael Nadal needed only an hour to dispatch South African qualifier Rik de Voest 6-0 6-2 in his opening match.
