Andy Murray had a smashing first-round debut Miami Open with a straight-set defeat Dusan Lajovic.
A two-time Miami winner, Murray made a series of effortless mistakes as Lajovic took a 6-4 7-5 win in one hour and 36 minutes.
The 35-year-old Scotsman who lost to his English friend last week Jack Draper In the third round of the BNP Paribas Open held at Indian Wells, he found breaking points in the fourth and sixth games of the opening set.
But Lajovic, who is ranked 76th in the world, was the first to hit Murray in game seven, before he went to take the opening set in the 42nd minute.
The two men continued to hit each other in the second set, and again it was Lajovic who made the opening move when a time-out in the ninth game allowed him to serve for the match.
However, as the match was tied 30-30, Lajovic made his first double mistake on the set, giving Murray the opportunity to come back in an instant with a two-handed catch.
However, this was followed by a brawling game for a discolored Murray, and Lajovic was successful in breaking the old world number one and trying once again to move on to the next round.
And the Serb made no mistake when he spotted an orphan Murray to secure a second-round date with Maxime Cressy.
“I was able to run to the duo at 5-5 and I think he felt the pressure,” Lajovic said.
“I felt very nervous in this last game as well. He was able to press when I missed some of the first serves while I was leading 40-0 but luckily he missed a shot that he normally wouldn’t miss.
“I played a good game and was very solid in my serving games. When I was able to play more aggressively in his serving games, I was able to take my chances.”
Murray admitted that he struggled with many aspects of his game.
“Some days you just can’t hit the ball your best, but today my movement wasn’t very good,” he said.
“I did pretty well, but the rest of the game was a bit problematic.
“Obviously I was hoping to do better here. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to stay and train for a few days before I go to Spain.
On a day of debuts for British players in Miami following Emma Raducanu’s previous defeat – Kyle Edmund also lost.
The former British number one returning to the field for the first time since the Australian Open after a string of injury problems was defeated 7-5, 7-5 in one hour and 35 minutes, by China’s Yibing Wu.