Out-of-sorts Murray falls to defeat after Chardy plunders poor serve

Andy Murray relinquished his Cincinnati Masters title yesterday (Getty Images)

Andy Murray relinquished his Cincinnati Masters title yesterday after falling to a straight-sets third-round defeat against France's Jérémy Chardy. Murray had beaten the world No 38 in all of their four previous encounters but looked out of sorts on his own serve and was subsequently made to pay in a 6-4, 6-4 reverse.

A missed break point opportunity for Murray at 3-2 was immediately punished by Chardy, who capitalised on uncharacteristic errors from Murray to take a 4-3 lead. Chardy saw out the set with two solid serves to take the advantage.

In the second set both men struggled on their own serve. A mishit forehand and an unforced error gave Chardy an early break. Murray broke back immediately but once more Chardy grabbed the initiative to take a 2-1 lead.

Both men would again lose their own serve before finally in the sixth game Chardy held to leave Murray clinging on in the match.

A crucial hold for Murray meant Chardy served for the match at 5-4. At 30-30 Chardy mustered one last big effort with an ace before a sliced forehand from Murray went wide to send the Frenchman through to the next round.