ANGRY Andy Murray launched three blistering rants at the umpire during his marathon Miami Open defeat.
And he survived a horrible injury scare after screaming out in agony – then asked to change his shorts on court in full view of a packed crowd.
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The former world No1, 36, lost an epic battle with Czech rising star Tomas Machac 5-7 7-5 7-6 in Florida.
Murray – who had won back-to-back matches at a tournament for the first time since August to reach round three – claimed the opening set before play was interrupted early in the second for a rain break.
But as Machac applied pressure and carved out set points, Murray got increasingly angry with tennis fans moving in the stands during points and distracting him.
He pleaded with umpire Carlos Bernardes to intervene.
But when the Brazilian asked what Murray was on about, the red mist descended.
The Brit fumed: “Do you want me to tell you what I’m talking about?”
He then walked back to the baseline before shaking his head at Bernardes.
The world No62’s mood soured further when he was handed a time violation warning in the same game at 5-4 down, prompting sarcastic applause and muttering of “typical” from the two-time Wimbledon champ.
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Murray held for 5-5 but was broken at 6-5 to drop the second set – and he let out his anger with a furious rant at Bernardes.
The Dunblane star shouted about “grudges” before slamming an “awful decision”.
Murray then shouted: “What are YOU talking about? What are YOU talking about?”
Bernardes tried to get Murray to calm down, but the tennis legend continued: “It’s quite obvious when people are standing up between every single [inaudible].”
He continued his moaning as he walked over to a bin and back to his bench to towel himself down.
Murray then turned around to the area where fans were particularly frustrating him and blasted: “Useless! Useless!” probably aimed at the Miami Open stewards failing to keep people in check.
It looked to be all over for Murray as he trailed 5-2 in the third set but fought back in trademark fashion.
On the point where he made it 5-5, though, the Scot appeared to jar his left ankle and crumbled to the floor in severe pain – just like Tommy Paul yesterday.
A physio suggested strapping up the joint but Murray refused because “I hate playing with tape”.
Then he lost his rag with Bernardes again as something that was on his bench was misplaced.
Murray blasted: “I’m not saying you did it Carlos. I know you think everything is against you.”
He then asked the umpire if he was allowed to change his shorts on court rather than go off to the changing rooms – claiming he had cycling shorts on underneath to maintain his decency.
Despite looking in serious discomfort, Murray somehow managed to carry on – saving match point – and forced a deciding-set tie-break which he led 5-3.
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But Machac eventually came through with some superb tennis, rattling off the final four points in a row to knock the heroic Brit out in heartwrenching fashion.
And it prompted a simple but gutting tweet from Murray’s brother Jamie, who posted: “Tennis can be brutal.”
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