January 2, 2014 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal
Andy Murray fell to Germany's Florian Mayer at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open quarterfinals in Doha on Wednesday, 6-3, 4-6, 2-6. Mayer, who earned one top 10 win last season against David Ferrer in the Shanghai Rolex Masters, defeated Murray for the first time in three chances in just under two hours. Mayer is now 11-43 lifetime against players ranked in the top 10.
"I felt like I slowed down in the second set, service speed and movement," said Murray. "It wasn't a particular area that was sore. Just more joints rather than muscles, just a bit sore from changing direction and playing at that level."
The second-seeded Ferrer was also upset on Wednesday in Doha, falling to Daniel Brands, 6-4, 7-5 in one hour and 15 minutes. Ferrer, currently world number three, lost serve three times against the 54th-ranked Brands. Brands reached the Doha semis last year as a qualifier before falling to eventual champion Richard Gasquet.
