• Abierto Mexicano Telcel

Murray embroiled in row with Acapulco official

ESPN staff
February 27, 2014
Ferrer and Murray through in Acapulco

Andy Murray became embroiled in a row with an official on his way to the quarter-finals of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco.

The reigning Wimbledon champion ultimately secured a 6-3 6-4 victory over Joao Sousa and will now take on Gilles Simon in the last eight.

But his concentration was threatened when he was involved in an argument over a line call.

Midway through the first set Murray thought he had broken his opponent to take a 4-2 lead but the umpire apparently heard a call ruling his shot out before Sousa had returned out of court.

Sousa was awarded the point but Murray challenged and was drawn into a heated conversation, with a tournament official needing to intercede.

The Press Association suggested Murray may have been penalised for verbal interference but he played down the incident.

"I still disagree with the umpire's decision," Murray said. "But you know sometimes with umpires, when you want to talk to them about a call, they can take it personally and you can end up arguing.

"The umpire today didn't do that. He explained himself and gave his view, but it didn't affect the match too much."

Murray went on to take the opening set but admitted he had been caught out by Sousa's approach.

The British No.1 said: "He started the match coming to the net a lot, playing very aggressive which I hadn't seen him do before so that was a bit unexpected," Murray told Sky Sports.

"But I started to pick up my depth a little bit - I was hitting the ball better as the first set went on and I created a lot of chances for myself.

"So in the second set I could have maybe made it a little bit easier on myself because it was a tough finish. He played a good last game to make it hard to serve it out but it was a good match."

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