Murray's early loss in Indian Wells becoming the norm

Sometimes, sports don't make sense. For years, world No. 1 Andy Murray has struggled at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells—one of only two ATP Masters 1000 events he has not won.

Despite being the top seed with one of the toughest quarters in tennis history coming together on the opposite side of the draw, Murray fell in his opening round to world No. 129-ranked qualifier Vasek Pospisil, 6-4, 7-6 (5).

You can say that anything is Pospisil.

But Murray exiting early in the desert has actually been pretty common. It's the seventh time that the 29-year-old has lost in the round of 16 or earlier at the spring’s first premier hard court tournament, and the fourth time he has lost in the second round.

“I don't know exactly why it is, because in practice here normally I play pretty well,” Murray said. “Some years I’ve played well. Some years it just hasn't quite happened for me. I don't know exactly why that is. I don't know if it is the conditions. I really don't know why I haven't played my best here over the years.”

Even when Murray has played well enough to make his way to the end of the tournament, he has not found a way to break through. In one final (back in 2009) and two semifinal appearances, Murray has won a total of 13 games—an average of just over two games per set. While his opponents were Novak Djokovic (twice) and Rafael Nadal, those scorelines are still shocking.

The beauty of tennis is that while Murray’s loss was surprising to him and everyone watching, he has a chance to get right back on track when the Miami Open gets underway on March 22.