(Reuters) - World number two Andy Murray squandered a 4-1 lead in the third set before losing a tiebreaker to Argentine left-hander Federico Delbonis and exiting the BNP Paribas Open third round 6-4 4-6 7-6(3) in California on Monday.
The second-seeded Scotsman let his commanding lead evaporate on a warm, windy day at Indian Wells and needed to break the 53rd-ranked Delbonis in the 12th game just to force the tiebreaker, which the Argentine won 7-3.
Delbonis took advantage of a series of Murray errors to run off the last five points of the decider to end the two hour, 46 minute struggle in Stadium 1.