Andy Murray, Venus Williams ousted in Washington openers

Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray of Britain crashed out in the opening round of the ATP and WTA Washington Open on Monday, falling to Sweden's Mikael Ymer.

The 35-year-old Scotsman fell to 115th-ranked Ymer 7-6 (10/8), 4-6, 6-1 after two hours and 50 minutes at the US Open tune-up tournament.

"I'm excited," said Ymer, who saved four set points in the first set. "A lot left to do but it's a very good start of the American swing."

World number 50 Murray, the 2012 and 2016 Olympic champion, is trying to earn a seeding at the US Open, which he won a decade ago.

"It's still possible," Murray said. "I would just need to have a good run in Canada or Cincinnati really. It's pretty straightforward if I was to make a quarter-final or a semifinal, which right now - after a loss like that - doesn't seem realistic.

"I do feel like if I play very well that I could do that. But I'll need to certainly play better than I did today."

Check out the moment @MikaelYmer took out Murray in D.C.@CitiOpen | #CitiOpen pic.twitter.com/Rhkffjkl6e

Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams, playing her first singles match in nearly a year, was also eliminated in the opening round, falling to Canadian qualifier Rebecca Marino 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

"It was nice to have the crowd behind me," Williams said. "Definitely a great experience. It's my first match so I didn't think I played well a lot of the times.

"Just trying to shake off some rust. That's just to be expected. All I can do is just play another tournament and play better."

Williams had not played a WTA singles match since falling to Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei 49 weeks ago in Chicago.

Ymer, who lost his only career ATP final last August in Winston-Salem, will next face 15th seed Aslan Karatsev.

Ymer won