• French Open, Day Eight

Lacklustre Murray defeated in rain-interrupted match

Andy Murray's first serve let him down in the first set © Getty Images

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Andy Murray was distinctly second best and totally devoid of inspiration as he lost a rain-interrupted last-16 encounter with Tomas Berdych at the French Open.

Murray was beaten 4-6 5-7 3-6 on Sunday to fall short of a place in the quarter-finals, and he can have few complaints after playing second fiddle before and after the rain struck. Despite conceding fewer unforced errors in the match, Murray never once grabbed hold of the contest and ended up paying the ultimate price.

Allowing the No. 15 seed to set the tempo of the entire match, Murray was broken twice before the heavens opened with the scores at 4-6 4-3 at Roland Garros. The players then returned after a short break to see Murray broken on three more occasions, ending the Briton's hopes of reaching the last eight.

Having battled through tough encounters with Richard Gasquet and Marcos Baghdatis to reach the last 16, Murray may well have been jaded. But the greater problem appeared to be his lack of willing to assert himself, too often playing a passive game. Murray spent the entire first set on the back foot as Berdych stepped inside the baseline to take charge of the match, forcing the Briton to play reactive tennis.

In three of his opening four service games Murray faced break points, eventually succumbing in the seventh game. Twice the No. 4 seed escaped danger on his own serve with trademark drop shots off his backhand side, but he could not produce a third miracle as Berdych moved to 0-40. The Czech, who dropped only five games against John Isner in the previous round, initially wasted a glorious chance at 15-40 when sending an easy forehand winner wide, but he clinched the next point before going on to close out the set.

A further break in the opening game of the second stanza suggested Murray's appearance on court would be a short one, particularly with his first serve functioning at under 50 percent. However, such was Berdych's control over matters that his own unforced errors suddenly gifted Murray a break back. Inexplicably the Czech sent one into the net and then another long to allow his opponent to restore parity, at which point Murray appeared to grow into the match for the first time.

Rain then forced the players off for a short period, and it did little to help Murray, who was quickly broken upon resumption as Berdych amassed a two-set lead. Driving a backhand wide to the forehand side, the Czech then whipped another back the other way to wrap up the set.

Bad light then threatened to end the contest, but a further two breaks of serve in the third set saw officials allow Berdych to close out the match as Murray sunk one into the net. Berdych will now face Mikhail Youzhny in the quarter-finals, after the Russian was gifted victory by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. After taking the first set 6-2, Youzhny was handed a very welcome rest as Tsonga retired due to injury.

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