Murray falls in Washington opener while Halep, Pegula win

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

Ymer won 75 percent of his first-serve points, 49-of-65, and smashed 37 winners past Murray, who made only 25 with 35 unforced errors, five more than Ymer. Murray had a set point in the 12th game of the first set but sent a backhand wide and Ymer held into a tiebreaker. Murray had three more set points in the tiebreak but Ymer smashed two forehand winners and a forehand volley winner to pull level at 7-7, prompting Murray to toss his racquet in frustration.

Ymer, 23, took the set on a backhand volley winner. “Had chances in the first set to close that out,” Murray said. “Didn’t get it.