• Internazionali BNL d'Italia

Murray dumped out by Gasquet in Rome

Andy Murray was beaten by Richard Gasquet © Getty Images

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Andy Murray's French Open preparations hit a major setback as he was dumped out of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia by old foe Richard Gasquet.

Murray, who missed last week's Madrid Open with a back injury, was looking to get a run of matches under his belt in Rome ahead of the Roland Garros grand slam, which begins on May 27.

But after edging past David Nalbandian in his opening match, Murray threw away a first-set lead as he bowed out with a 6-7(1) 6-3 6-2 defeat to the Frenchman.

Murray was left to rue 49 unforced errors and 15 unconverted break points as he failed to make the most of his early dominance after putting Gasquet's serve under pressure.

After seeing 11 break points pass him by without a breakthrough, Murray finally converted one to lead 4-3. Serving for the opener, Murray conjured up set point with a well-crafted drop shot that left his opponent rooted to the baseline - only to see Gasquet break back to force a tie-break.

Murray strolled through the tie-break, but immediately allowed all his hard work to be undone as Gasquet punished the Scot for a lapse in concentration, grabbing an early break before racing through the second set to force a decider.

Gasquet saved four break points to lead 2-1, and it was the No. 16 seed that claimed the crucial break to lead 4-2 after a Murray backhand failed to clear the net.

It was a laboured performance from Murray, and he failed to hold his final service game as he bowed out at the third-round stage at the Foro Italico. Gasquet, meanwhile, will now face David Ferrer in the quarter-finals after the Spaniard saw off Gilles Simon 6-0 7-6(5).

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