KEY BISCAYNE, FL – MARCH 28: Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria is congratulated by Andy Murray of Great Britain after their match during the Miami Open presented by Itau at Crandon Park Tennis Center on March 28, 2016 in Key Biscayne, Florida. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images/AFP
Third-round exits from two elite ATP events since becoming a father have Britain’s Andy Murray searching for answers as the world number two approaches the start of the claycourt season.
The 28-year-old Scotsman lost a 6-7 (1/7), 6-4, 6-3 shocker to 28th-ranked Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov on Monday at the Miami Open after having been sent packing at Indian Wells by Argentina’s 48th-ranked Frederico Delbonis.
“I was up a break in the third, same thing in Indian Wells as well,” Murray said. “Then lost a run of games in both matches. So need to look at that and see where I go from there.”
Murray, who fell to 0-5 in Australian Open finals with a loss to Novak Djokovic in January, became a father February 7 when his wife Kim gave birth to daughter Sophia and took a break until Indian Wells.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Murray said. “I expected Indian Wells to be tricky. But here I had a long time to prepare, practiced pretty well.
“Indian Wells, understandable. Here, not so much.”
Murray said becoming a father has given him a more relaxed perspective on tennis, but has not changed the amount of work he does.
“Win or lose, it’s not irrelevent to me but it’s not as important as it was before,” he said. “It’s not as stressful.”
Four of the top five men’s seeds and six of the top 10 at Miami are gone before the last 16, matching 2005’s tournament record.
“It hasn’t happened often,” Murray said of such seeded attrition. I’m not sure exactly why that is.”
But Murray is not ready to proclaim this the year for a change of the guard dumping himself, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
“I hope it’s not for my sake,” Murray said. “I need a little more evidence than one or two weeks to support that.”
But he does have respect for rising young talent and their potential for Grand Slam success.
“The group of guys coming up behind are really, really good players,” Murray said. “It depends a little bit on how they develop, too. A lot of them are huge guys, big guys with big games and move well.”
Murray, the 2012 US Open and 2013 Wimbledon champion, made the French Open semi-finals the past two years and is expected to be in the hunt again this year at Roland Garros.
But Murray knows he cannot make 55 unforced errors as he did against Dimitrov.
“Grigor is a very good player but I had opportunities,” Murray said. “It’s not like I came out and played awful stuff the whole time. When you get your chances you have to put your foot down.”