Andy Murray
Andy Murray was playing in just his fourth tournament since returning from a long-term injury absence. In this picture, Murray of Great Britain reacts after losing a point to Lucas Pouille of France during Day 3 of the Western and Southern Open at the Lindner Family Tennis Center on Aug. 13, 2018, in Mason, Ohio. Rob Carr/Getty Images

Andy Murray’s Cincinnati Masters campaign came to an end on the opening night of the tournament after he was ousted in the first round by Frenchman Lucas Pouille 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 on Monday.

It was the Scot’s first loss against Pouille in five meetings and his first loss to a Frenchman since 2015. Murray’s loss was not a big surprise as he continues on his road to getting back to his best after being sidelined for almost 12 months due to a hip injury.

The former world number one lost the first set 6-1 to the Frenchman, but it looked like he was back in control when he took the second set by the same margin. Murray, however, was unable to carry the momentum into the final set and was beaten 6-4 as Pouille wrapped up the match in one hour and 53 minutes.

The 24-year-old, who is ranked number 17 in the world at the moment, was delighted with his win and revealed he had to play aggressive until the end of the third set to prevail over Murray.

"I'm very happy, especially with the way I fought until the end," Pouille said after the match, as quoted on ATP’s official site. "I tried to do my best in the third set and then until the end I played very aggressive and I'm very pleased with that."

The Cincinnati Masters is Murray’s fourth tournament since returning from injury. He withdrew in the quarter-finals of the Citi Open in July citing fatigue after three grueling matches and then eventually withdrew from last week’s Rogers Cup to prepare for the ongoing tournament.

The Scot did not seem too dejected after the game and pointed out that it was close citing he lost just four points more than Pouille in the match. Murray is certain that a little more improvement in his game will allow him to close out matches better, especially since he had the momentum going into the final set.

"I only lost four more points in the match than him. It was tight. He's a Top 20 player," Murray said. "If I can improve by 10, 15 percent, you turn a lot of those matches around.”

Pouille, meanwhile, admitted he used the knowledge about putting pressure on Murray’s second serve to good effect. The Scot also handed the French tennis player the advantage when he opened the first game of the third set with a double fault, which Pouille took advantage of and went on to break serve.

"Especially on the second serve, [I wanted to] put as much pressure as I could. He doesn't like that," Pouille said. "I knew I would have some opportunity to break again and that's what I did in the first game of the third set and it made a huge difference."

The world number 17 will now play Leonard Mayer in the second round after the Argentine beat young American Michael Mmoh 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.

Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, progressed to the second round after a 6-4, 7-6 (4) win over Steve Johnson. However, the Serbian needed nine match points to wrap up the game, and will next face Adrian Mannarino.

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