The thoughts behind good intentions might mean something, but good intentions themselves count for very little if they fail to come to fruition in the end.  That is the reality that Andy Murray has had to come to grips with after the Scot, who was competing in Washington, D. C. for the first time in nine years, was bounced out by Russia's Teymuraz Gabashvili in his opening match.  The loss does not constitute one of the more significant or painful defeats of his career or even this season, but it has put a halt to his momentum heading into the hard court swing and begun his US Open preparation on a sour note.

There is no getting around that Murray's early exit in the American capital was a disappointment, although some perspective is needed.  No disrespect to the Citi Open, but between his title run in Madrid, finalist appearances at the Australian Open and Miami, and his semifinal showings at Roland Garros and Wimbledon this season, the current No. 3 is unlikely to lose much sleep over his loss on Wednesday night.  Furthermore, this was his first hard-court match of the summer, so Murray is still in an adjustment period.  And of course, much credit has to go to Gabashvili  The Russian gave Murray hardly any rhythm as he continually bludgeoned the ball in an impressive offensive onslaught that he miraculously managed to maintain throughout the majority of the match.  All of these factors considered, this is arguably an explainable and potentially insignificant loss, but one that cannot be dismissed altogether.

For one thing, Murray's defeat in Washington put a dent in his chances of catching Federer in the rankings and possibly earning the highly coveted second seed at the US Open, which would guarantee that he could not meet Novak Djokovic until the final.  The Scot has far less to defend than Federer through the remainder of the year. While Murray would have had to practically run the table from this week through Cincinnati if he hoped to overtake Federer before the US Open, with the Swiss opting to forfeit his 2014 finalist points from Canada, such a scenario was within the realm of possibility.  Now, however, a swap in the rankings between the two looks highly unlikely any time in the near future.

The other drawback to Murray's loss on Wednesday is that it may undermine his confidence to some degree and halts the momentum he built heading into this portion of the season.  This defeat will not weigh as heavily on his mind as losing a major final, but he is not likely to feel completely self-assured of his game when he takes to the court in Canada next week.  In addition to that, Murray has always been a player who tends towards negativity on the court, so he naturally struggles a little more than some of the other top players at avoiding any lingering hangover effects from a loss, no matter how small.  And finally, while Murray commands his share of respect in the locker room, he has never owned quite the same aura as the other three members of the Big Four.  With Gabashvili getting the better of him  in Washington, there are apt to be plenty of other players who will believe in their chances of battling their way to a surprising upset over the former US Open champion in the coming couple of weeks.

Of course, as every fan and player knows, it is foolish to assign too much meaning to a single result, no matter how good or how bad it may be.  Time is needed to determine the extent of its impact, if any, which is why nobody will be in a hurry to write off Murray and his chances for success in the upcoming Masters events and last major of 2015.  But there is no denying that his first trip to Washington in nearly a decade was a dismal one.  It was a missed opportunity and one he will need to make up for starting next week if he hopes to make headway in the rankings and capture the third major of his career.