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| Murray slumps to defeat in Japan | Murray slumps to defeat in Japan |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Andy Murray suffered his third straight defeat on the ATP Tour as he went down to Jiri Novak in the second round of the Japan Open. | Andy Murray suffered his third straight defeat on the ATP Tour as he went down to Jiri Novak in the second round of the Japan Open. |
| The 19-year-old Briton, who had a bye through the first round, went down 6-3 7-6 (7-1) to 31-year-old Novak. | |
| Murray fought back from 4-1 down in the second set but was no match for the Czech in the tie-break. | |
| "Every single young player goes through a patch where he's not playing well," said fourth seed Murray. | |
| It's not like I lost to bad players Andy Murray | |
| "You can't expect to get to the semi-finals every week - unless you're Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal. | |
| "They are the only two who can do it. I wasn't looking that far ahead." | |
| Murray lost to Tim Henman in his opening match in Bangkok last week. | Murray lost to Tim Henman in his opening match in Bangkok last week. |
| "It's not like I lost to bad players," said Murray. "Henman has been at the top of the game for a long time. Novak was number five in the world (in 2002). | |
| "I did well to fight back into the match but unfortunately I couldn't quite turn it around." | |
| Federer faces Viktor Troicki later on Wednesday, while Henman carries British hopes in Tokyo and will face Argentine Juan Martin del Potro on Thursday. |