• Valencia Open

Beaten Murray admits he was not fully prepared

ESPN staff
November 3, 2010
Andy Murray lacked confidence © Getty Images
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Andy Murray did not directly blame the interruption of his brother's wedding for Wednesday's defeat to Juan Monaco, but he admitted he did not put himself in a position to win the match.

Murray's build-up for the Valencia Open was far from ideal as he disrupted practice to be best man at brother Jamie's ceremony. The British No. 1 then returned to beat Feliciano Lopez in the first round on Tuesday, but he could progress no further against Monaco.

Defending the title he won a year ago, Murray was simply outplayed, losing 6-2 3-6 6-2. The usual fire only briefly burned in the second set, but there were no excuses for the Scot.

Asked after the match if he blamed his preparations, Murray said he did not feel ready for a tough three-set encounter.

"For me to feel confident it's not necessarily about playing loads of matches," Murray said. "But I need to spend time on the court hitting a lot of balls, a lot of time in the gym so physically I feel good.

"I felt the match was going to be very, very tough and I didn't feel that comfortable on the court and I didn't give myself the chance to win the match today, so that's a bit disappointing, but it's not the end of the world."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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