
Andy Murray wasted match point as he was dumped out in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open by towering Pole Jerzy Janowicz on Thursday.
The Scot surrendered control of a match he was on the brink of winning in straight sets before being blown away in the decider by his 21-year-old 6ft 7in opponent.
The US Open champion served for the match at 5-4 in the second, but he was broken for the first time in the match and Janowicz, a qualifier, went on to win the set on a tie-break.
And the third seed was made to pay for his loss of composure as he fell two breaks down in the third, Janowicz taking the biggest scalp of his career with a 5-7 7-6 (7/4) 6-2 win in two hours 25 minutes.
The Scot's victory over Paul-Henri Mathieu on Wednesday night was his first match since citing a back problem as the reason for pulling out on the eve of last week's event in Basle and the workout he got 24 hours later was too tough to cope with.
Murray will need to pick himself up in time for next week's season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London, but Janowicz's joy at the end of the match was clear for all to see.
Murray had to bide his time in the opening set, the first break point not coming until the 11th game.
That was saved, but Murray took the next and then held serve to go one set in front.
He broke for a 4-3 lead in the second and had match point on serve, but Janowicz, who shocked 13th seed Marin Cilic on Wednesday, showed plenty of spirit and rattled Murray by breaking back to level at 5-5.
And the Pole was far more aggressive in the tie-break and it paid off as he forced a decider.
The momentum was firmly with Janowicz and continued where he left off by breaking for a 2-1 and then a 4-1 lead before booking his place in the last eight.
Janowicz could not hide his utter elation at a famous victory.
"It's not easy for me to speak, I have a thousand different feelings in my heart," he said on Sky Sports 1.
"This is an unbelievable week for me. I was already so happy after winning in the first round against (Philipp) Kohlschreiber, (beating) Cilic (was) unbelievable, I don't know what to say after this match.
"I still don't think this is happening."
Janowicz has made huge strides in the past 10 months given he was playing Futures Tour events in Barnstaple at the start of the year.
"Since the beginning of the year I've had so many changes in my life," he said.
"I've changed the racket which is helping me, a new fitness coach also, a lot of new changes and they've worked.
"Now I am playing my best tennis in my whole life and hope I am not finished."
Janowicz fired down 22 aces, but Murray admitted he let his performance level slip when he served for the match.
"I didn't play a particularly good game and missed a couple of shots that I would have hoped to have made," Murray said on the ATP website.
"He probably gained some confidence from that and started playing better. He played a good tie-break, played aggressive."
And the Scot acknowledged he can not afford to let opponents back into matches in London next week.
"I have to make sure I tighten that up next week, if I get that opportunity in the matches," he added. "Make sure I don't let it happen at The O2."
Update:
Hello, regular commenting on Orange News and Sport pages closes on Thursday 30 May 2013. We will continue to provide a commenting facility on major news and sport events on orangeworld.co.uk. Contact us via http://oran.ge/OWfeedback if you have any further questions. Thanks.








