Andy Murray has dropped out of the Citi Open in
Washington due to fatigue after a marathon match that started after
midnight because of a rain delay and finished just after 3 am (0700
GMT) Friday.
Murray, who was reduced to tears after the early-morning match
against Marius Copil, pulled out of his quarter-final match against
Alex de Minaur scheduled to take place Friday evening, organizers of
the ATP World Tour tournament said.
He also announced on Facebook he will not compete in the Rogers Cup
in Toronto next week, another of the hard-court warm-up tournaments
ahead of the US Open starting August 27.
Murray, 31, cited the number of matches he's played in Washington -
all three were three-setters - adding "I need to be smart with my
rest and recovery as I come back from injury."
The former world number one had been out for 11 months following
Wimbledon last year and had hip surgery in January.
He said he will play at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati,
Ohio later this month.
"Appreciate all the support in Washington, it's amazing to be back
playing," he said.
But Murray was sour after his late night match and court-side sobbing
episode, criticizing organizers of the Citi Open, which has been
plagued by rain nearly every day this week.
"Finishing matches at 3 in the morning is not good," Murray said
after his 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) win over Copil. "It's not good
for the players. It's not good for anyone, I don't think, involved in
the event. It's not good for fans, TV. Nobody."
In another rain-delayed match on Friday evening, top seed and
defending champion Alexander Zverev of Germany advanced to the
semifinals with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over 7th-ranked Kei Nishikori.
Zverev will face the number 10 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece on
Saturday.