AN INJURED Andy Murray failed once more to put down a marker ahead of the French Open, losing 2-6, 5-7 (5-7) to Stanislas Wawrinka in the second round of the Rome Masters.
Murray received treatment on an apparent groin problem in the first set and struggled with his mobility throughout, but will nevertheless rue missing the chance to get more practice on clay before Roland Garros.
It was a good opportunity for the B
ritish number one to make the latter stages of the tournament after Rafael Nadal, his likely third round opponent, suffered a rare defeat at the hands of Carlos Ferrero earlier in the day.
Wawrinka took first serve and set in motion a relatively uneventful series of three games which followed serve without undue pressure from either side.
That left things at 2-1, with Murray serving to restore parity. But Wawrinka used the opportunity to make his move, breaking the Scot on the first break point of the match to move to 3-1 up.
Murray then slumped to 4-1 down before seeking treatment on his injury.
The Dunblane native battled hard in pursuit of a break of his own before the Swiss served out to take his third consecutive game.
Murray was in desperate need of a morale-boosting service game but immediately lost the first point.
He rallied to win the game and move within two of his rival but it was far from the statement he needed to make.
Indeed, it was his last success of the set as Wawrinka wrapped up the next two games in quick succession, breaking the Scot's vulnerable serve once more after a first double fault of the day to take a 6-2 win.
That seemed to spur Murray into action as he won for the first time against serve, before taking a two-game lead early in the second set.
Wawrinka made no mistakes in his next service and Murray survived a brief scare to retain his lead in the following game.
It was soon 4-3, with no major worries for either player but the 20-year-old Briton conceded two break points in the eighth game, eventually handing his opponent the game on a second serve.
Murray could not launch a counter-attack in the next game and at 5-4 behind, the sudden shift in momentum left him serving to stay in the tournament.
Wawrinka quickly amassed four match points as the Murray serve crumbled but he launched a gutsy fightback to take the game with a belated, but concerted, effort.
Both men then won their final games to go into a tie-break, which Wawrinka won after collecting another two match points.
