Murray makes shocking third-round exit at Monte Carlo

World number one Andy Murray suffered a major blow as he knocked out of the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters after going down at the hands of World No.24 Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain in their men's singles clash here on Thursday.

The Spaniard recovered from a 0-4 deficit in the deciding set to register a 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 win over Murray in a disjointed match, which featured 13 service breaks and lasted over two hours and 33 minutes.

With the win, Ramos-Vinolas denied Murray, a three-time semi-finalist at the tournament, his 100th clay-court match victory of his career (99-44).

The top-seeded, who was playing for the first time since March 12 due to a right elbow injury, was bidding to capture his 15th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title.

 

Ramos-Vinolas will now lock horns with fifth-seeded Croatian Marin Cilic for a place in semi-finals.

14-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal and World No.2 Novak Djokovic will aim to book their place in the quarter-finals when they take on play their respective third round later today.