Beaten Andy Murray rues missed break points

ANDY Murray suffered a setback in his French Open preparations as he was ousted 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 by Richard Gasquet in the third round of the Rome Masters yesterday.

The world No 4 dominated the first set tiebreak but was made to pay for missing 15 of 17 break points as he lost to the 22nd-ranked Frenchman in just under three hours.

Murray reached the quarter-finals in Monte Carlo but pulled out of the Madrid Masters with a back injury before winning his opening match in Rome.

The swirling wind and shadows across the court made life difficult for both men but 16th seed Gasquet took his chances to set up a quarter-final with Spain’s David Ferrer, the sixth seed winning 6-0 7-6 against Gilles Simon of France.

World No 1 Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, who he beat in last year’s final, reached the last eight in contrasting fashion.

Djokovic demonstrated how to smash a racket and how to cope with adversity as he beat Argentina’s Juan Monaco 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

The Serb mangled his racket when he lost the first set but from 2-1 down in the second set he reeled off 20 of 24 points to draw level before going on to take the decider.

“I hope the children watching don’t do that,” Djokovic told a news conference, referring to his racket-smashing. “But I show my emotions out there. That’s who I am.

“I struggled with the wind today and I was a bit defensive and passive in the first set but once I was more direct I started to play much better.”

Nadal made light work of fellow Spaniard Marcel Granollers, winning 6-1, 6-1 in one hour and 28 minutes, setting up a clash with seventh seed Tomas Berdych.

In the women’s event, it was a good day for the Williams sisters as Serena and Venus reached the quarter finals.

Ninth seed Serena, fresh from her victory in Madrid last weekend, crushed Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 6-3, 6-1, while unseeded Venus upset fifth seed Sam Stosur 6-4, 6-3. Venus’s victory is projected to put her in line for a place in the United States Olympic team, a remarkable achievement in her comeback after she was diagnosed with Sjogren’s Disease, which saps her energy, during last year’s US Open.

“Seriously,” she said, before pumping her fist during her news conference. “I wouldn’t have come back so soon but I needed the points to get in the Olympics.

“I probably wouldn’t have come back before Wimbledon or maybe even after it. I need to win more but that’s great.”

Wimbledon champion and fourth seed Petra Kvitova was the first to book her place in the last eight with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 victory over Sorana Cirstea.