Cincinnati Open: Andy Murray knocked out in first round but remains hopeful of competing at US Open

The former world No 1 lost in three sets to crash out of the Western & Southern Open in the first round as he continues his comeback from an 11-month hip injury

Andy Murray was knocked out of the first round at the Cincinnati Open (Getty)

Andy Murray has been knocked out of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati in the first round by Lucas Pouille, but remains hopeful that he can prove his fitness and compete at the US Open later this month.

Murray failed to reach the next round after being beaten 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 by Pouille, who took the opening set in just over 30 minutes.

Murray showed some fight in the second set, breaking Pouille in the first game and going on to level the match in convincing style.

But he could not edge ahead and Pouille held his serve in the 10th game of the final set and claim a deserved victory.

The former British No 1 is refusing to panic though as he continues his comeback from 11 months out injured, and believes there are plenty of positives to pick out of the performance in Cincinnati.

“I only lost four more points in the match than him,” Murray said. “It was tight. He’s a top 20 player. If I can improve by 10, 15 per cent, you turn a lot of those matches around.

“So I think also as the year goes on, maybe some of the events I play are maybe not as strong maybe later in the year, so draws can be a little bit different.

“But, yeah, you need to try and string more matches together. But it’s tricky in these events. If you’re not seeded, you play top, top quality players early on.”

Lucas Pouille beat Andy Murray to reach the second round in Cincinnnati (Reuters)

The defeat leaves Murray facing a difficult decision over whether he should compete in the year’s final Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows in two weeks’ time. The former world No 1 has still only played seven competitive matches since returning from his hip injury, and despite coming through three consecutive three-set matches in Washington, he was then forced to withdraw from the quarter-finals to prevent any risk of injury or fatigue.

“I kind of need to see once I’m in that position,” he added, ahead of the start of the US Open on Monday 27 August. “I have played, four three-set matches and a couple long ones in Washington. Although I didn’t feel great, I managed to get through them.

“Hopefully with another couple of weeks and training, and I’m still quite early in this process, I think that’s the seventh match I have played, so hopefully each week will feel better and I can keep working on things.”

Andy Murray grimaces during his defeat by Lucas Pouille (Getty)

Tenth seed Novak Djokovic overcame home favourite Steve Johnson, needing nine match points to advance to the second round 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).

On the back of his third-round defeat at last week's Rogers Cup, the Serbian took until the 10th game to break his world number 33 opponent, but kept up the pressure to take a 3-0 lead in the second.

Johnson refused to be beaten, however, breaking Djokovic's serve twice before the former world number one rallied to even the score at 4-4.

A mammoth final three games ensued before Djokovic hit a cross-court forehand to seal the victory.

Novak Djokovic celebrates his victory over Steve Johnson (Getty)

Meanwhile, wild card Stan Wawrinka erased any worries about his recent knee surgeries, beating Diego Schwartzman 6-2 4-6 6-3 to set up a round-two match against Kei Nishikori, who overcame Andrey Rublev 7-5 6-3.

American Sam Querry upset ninth seed John Isner despite 38 aces from his countryman and two hard-fought tie-breaks.

Isner triumphed in the first tie-break of the second set but Querry was able to fight back with an impressive ace game of his own - hitting 26 in total - and claiming 87% of his first-serve points to triumph 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5) after two hours and 10 minutes on court.

There were also wins for Denis Shapovalov, who defeated Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 7-5, and Benoit Paire, who dismissed David Ferrer 6-2, 6-2.

PA