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Andy Murray won Olympic gold medals in 2012 and 2016
Britain's Andy Murray lost in straight sets to Russia's fifth seed Andrei Rublev in the third round at Indian Wells.
Murray, 36, a three-time Grand Slam champion, lost to Rublev 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 in a high-quality match in California.
He then quickly faded out in the second game after losing his serve in the fourth game.
Murray, who finished runner-up to Rafael Nadal in the 2009 tournament, thanked the Indian Wells crowd for acknowledging that this would be his last visit.
“I have loved coming to this place for many years,” he said, adding, “I was able to play in a great atmosphere and create some brilliant memories, because without the fans it's not the same.” praised.
Other Australian Open champions Jannik Sinner He won in straight sets over Australia's Thanasi Kokkinakis.
The 22-year-old Italian, ranked third in the world, won 6-3, 6-0 in just 81 minutes and will face Germany's Jan Renardo Struff or Croatia's Borna Coric in the third round.
defending champion Carlos AlcarazSecond seed Matteo Arnaldi dropped the first set against Italy's Matteo Arnaldi, but the Spaniard rallied to win 6-7 (7-5), 6-0, 6-1.
Germany's 6th seed alexander zverev The 11th seed Greece defeated Australia's Christopher O'Connell 6-4, 6-4. Stefanos Tsitsipas He defeated French qualifier Lucas Pouille 6-3, 6-2.
Murray falls after a good start
Murray, who advanced to the second round with a straight-sets win over David Goffin, delighted the Indian Wells crowd with a high-quality first set against Rublev, serving with a superb backhand passing shot at a crucial point. The score was 5-4. 4 leads.
This looked like it would be crucial as they maintained their momentum producing a total of four set points in the next match.
But Rublev persisted and forced a tiebreak, clinching it on his second chance, leaving Murray empty-handed despite some promising play in a 66-minute first set.
As players battled for advantage in the second set, Murray continued to shine with good support on court two, beating Rublev with a perfect lob.
But Murray, who faced his first pressure point in his service game when he led 40-0, could not survive a third break point as Rublev led 3-1.
The 26-year-old Rublev, who won an appeal after losing by default at last week's Dubai Tennis Championships, stayed strong from there, breaking Murray again and eventually converting his fourth match point.
Murray, a former world No. 1, has said he would like to compete in one more Olympics before retiring, but for that to happen he would have to be in the top 56 in the ATP rankings as of June 10.
The two-time Olympic champion, who turns 37 in May, is currently ranked 61st and has won only two of his eight matches leading up to Indian Wells.
