rogerfederer.com - Roger out in second round

Roger out in second round

Roger's winning streak in North America ended yesterday when he was defeated in the second round in Cincinnati by Britain's Andy Murray 7-5, 6-4. It was Roger's earliest tournament exit in two years.

Roger had reached the final of 17 consecutive tournaments, a streak that began in June 2005. He fell one shy of matching the Open-era record of 18 straight set by Ivan Lendl in 1981-82.

“The streaks? I don’t care about those now that they’re over,” Roger said, not having lost in straight sets in 194 matches. “It’s going to be a relief for everybody, and now we can move on.” Roger's last loss in North America came at this same Masters Series tournament, to Dominik Hrbaty in the first round on Aug. 3, 2004.

Roger is now 62-5 this year. His other losses came against Rafael Nadal. He was 85-2 on hard courts over the last two years heading into the match.

Murray, from Scotland, reached the semifinals in Toronto, and he was ranked a career-best 21st entering this tournament. “I know Federer didn’t play his best match, but how many guys beat him when he’s playing badly anyway?” Murray said, adding, “I didn’t know how to react at the end, because I definitely was not planning on winning the match.”