Murray squandered a 3-0 lead in the final set (©GettyImages). Andy Murray was not critical of his performance after his defeat to Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Toronto Masters on Friday.
The Briton was knocked out of the tournament in the quarter-finals, as he lost five games in a row in the final set to lose the match 7-6, 4-6, 6-4, in what was his first defeat to the world number 15 in eight meetings.
Both players held serve in all 12 service games in the first set before Tsonga edged the tie-break 7-5.
Character
Murray showed character to hit back in the second set, as he had faced two break points when serving at 15-40 in the ninth game, before holding his serve and breaking Tsonga in the next game to take the match to a decider.
The 27-year-old then carried that momentum into the third set, as he moved to a 3-0 lead, before losing his next two service games, and despite forcing his opponent to save one break point, Tsonga served out for victory.
Defeat
The Rogers Cup was the first tournament he had competed in since losing his Wimbledon title in July, where he was beaten by Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov in a three set quarter-final.
He had been training hard in Miami since then, working more closely with new coach Amelie Mauresmo, though he is yet to reach the semi-final of a tournament since the pair began working together in June.
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The Dunblane-born player felt there was little to choose between the two players, and he was full of praise for his opponent, while admitting that having a break from tennis has not worked to his advantage.
The British number one said: “It's just disappointing because it's important to play matches.
"If you've had a break for a while, ideally you want to try and play as many matches as you can.
"Tennis and sport really can change a lot from one day to the next. Jo is a top player. He's a fantastic athlete. When his game is on, he's very tough to beat."
Another low for 2014
The defeat is another crushing blow in what has been a difficult year for the two-time Grand Slam winner, as he is yet to reach the final of a tournament since winning Wimbledon in 2013, and his world ranking has dropped from second to ninth in that time.
Tsonga has also had a difficult year, as his only success of note this year has been reaching the final of the Open 13 in Marseille in February.
But the 2008 Australian Open finalist is now one match away from reaching his first ATP Masters 1000 Series final since the Paris Masters in 2008, which was also the last Masters Series tournament that he won in 2008.
The French number two will play Dimitrov in the semi-finals, who staved off two match points before completing a 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 victory over South Africa’s Kevin Anderson.
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