U.S. Open Champion Andy Murray Knocked Out of Paris by Qualifier

U.S. Open tennis champion Andy Murray was knocked out in the third round of the BNP Paribas Paris Masters today by a qualifier ranked 66 places below him.

Third-ranked Murray lost to Jerzy Janowicz of Poland 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2. Murray, a 25-year-old right-hander from Scotland, failed to convert a match point on his serve at 5-4 in the second set.

It’s the third tournament in a row that Murray has exited after squandering match points. He had two against Canada’s Milos Raonic in Tokyo and five against Novak Djokovic in Shanghai.

Murray’s latest defeat comes a day after second-ranked Djokovic was also upset in Paris. The Australian Open champion from Serbia lost to Sam Querrey of the U.S. in his opening contest, his earliest tournament exit for more than two years.

Murray and Djokovic will compete in next week’s Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London, the season-ending event for the top eight singles and doubles players in the world. Top-ranked Roger Federer of Switzerland withdrew from the Paris event and No. 4 Rafael Nadal of Spain hasn’t recovered from a knee injury that’s kept him out since Wimbledon.

To contact the reporter on this story: Danielle Rossingh on the London sports desk at drossingh@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Elser at celser@bloomberg.net