One match point saved.

Good bh down the line from Andy.

Djokovic just got a racket on it.

The second attempt goes wide. No challenge this time.

And it's all over. Murray loses 16 75 63.

Shame he couldn't carry through the form of the first set, but he still went further than he should by beating the third seed so there are some good points to take away. Hopefully he gets a good draw in Basel next week and can go really deep in the tournament there.

What happened there???

Andy cruised it in the first set. His form dipped in the second set but that's ok he has been playing great tennis, confidence should be sky high but suddenly he was stuck in a cycle of frustration and errors.

Credit to Djokovic, he looked pretty bewildered in the first set but when Andy dipped he recogised it imediately and altered his game to give no errors and keep Andy frustrated.

The annoying is that when Andy conceeded a set to Ljubicic it didn't shake him, he kept the faith and he won it in three. So why why why did he lose the plot so badly today?

I have had a lot of stick for describing Djokovic as Andy's nemesis but the definition seems pretty apt today.

2. An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome.

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=Nemesis

In a somewhat frustrating display, Andy showed he can play to a very high standard indoors and in time could be a contender for these autumn Masters events. And yet his own expectations, his own standards, were so high that when his level eventually dropped and he missed a few shots his internal rage was evident; when he let Djokovic back into the match at 4-4 in the second set it was too much for him to cope with and the resulting implosion cost him the set, a break early in the third set, and ultimately the match.

The first set was some of the best tennis Murray has played this year. Having saved a break point in the opening service game, he found some rhythm on the first serve and had little trouble holding throughout the set while putting intense pressure on Novak's serve. Djokovic held after deuce then was broken twice despite a 74% first serve percentage as Andy took the set 6-1.

The rallies were long patient affairs before one player unleashed; Murray finding his target, Djokovic missing in the opening set. Novak saved three breakpoints in a long opening service game to the second set. On the key points Murray's shot selection was fine but the execution wasn't. When he broke to love to lead 4-3 it didn't seem to matter but the turning point was yet to come. A poor volley gave Novak the chance to pass, a weak slice found the middle of the net, a beautiful double-handed backhand down the line got it to 15-30 but a forehand unforced error gave Djokovic 2 break points and while a fierce first serve saved one, Novak attacked the net and Murray's passing shot never looked close to making over the net.

Those errors were more than Andy could take and the match ran away from him at an alarming speed. The rallies were still long, the serving patchy, but now it was Andy who cried out in despair as shots got away from him. He held for 5-5 then played a shocking game serving to stay in the set. An easy volley dumped in the net, a double fault, Djokovic was little more than a bystander as Andy presented him with the set.

Even a 40-15 lead was not enough in Murray's opening service game in the third set. Mentally he was furious with himself, lost in the torment of throwing away the lead in the previous set. Straightforward shots dumped half-way up the net or landing six feet past the baseline. Andy did recover somewhat but Novak cruised home with little difficulty to win a match that should have finished an hour earlier.

While he lost this match, Andy's display, at least for the first hour or so, contained much to be excited about. OK the serving was disappointing as per usual, but the weapons were on display, double-handed backhands arrowing down the line for outright winners, comfortable angled stop volleys, sudden acceleration on the forehand, aggressive returns of serve. This wasn't a repeat of the Ljubicic match in which Murray was content to be patient waiting for the Croat to be reckless, it was classy stuff: slow, slow, then bang. Variation with an end product; the sort of tennis that if allied to a reliable serve, could well be competitive against an on-form Federer.

So it didn't work for the whole match. But in time it will. Or at least an improved serve will hide some of the imperfections, the raw edges. A couple of big first serves at 4-3 in the second set and this could have been a comfortable 6-1 6-4. A first serve percentage of 45% invites trouble, predictable second serves allow his opponent to take the initiative in the rallies, leaving Andy on the defensive and ultimately, unable to hold on.

Sometimes watching Andy he looks short of real weapons, over-reliant on errors from his opponent, defensive, getting one more ball back in play in the hope that they'll miss, even teasing them with looping forehands landing midway up the court inviting them to take on a big forehand or attack the net so he'll have the chance to pass. And you're left thinking that while this approach may be enough against modest opponents or those off-form on the day, it's hardly the recipe for success against top players, especially those playing well.

But watch enough matches and you see the shots, the penetration, the potential to hurt even the best. For a while much of it was on display against Novak Djokovic; a boldness that he's previously only really revealed when in trouble, a set down, time to changes things, be more ambitious.

Anyway, this one got away. But the signs are good for next year if they can refine the serve that isn't doing him any favours right now.