April 30th, 2009 by Peter Bevan

Number four seed, Andy Murray, suffered a shock 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 defeat to, qualifier and world number 58,  Juan Monaco in the second round of the Rome Masters.

Having received a bye into the second round, Andy Murray was not able match his opponent on clay.

Andy Murray cruised in the first set having broken Juan Monaco’s serve twice early on to lead the set 5-0 and then win 6-1.

However, Juan Monaco looked revitalised in the second set, taking advantage of Andy Murray’s errors.

Both players exchanged two breaks each but more decisively, Juan Monaco broke in the eighth game and was then able to hold on to win the set 6-3.

The third and final set followed in the same pattern with Andy Murray losing too many service games.

Andy Murray lost the game whilst serving for the match as fatigue became apparent.

Juan Monaco then took the set 7-5 with no problems on his serve and will now face number 15 seed Marin Cilic.

It is the first time since August 2008 at the Beijing Olympics where Andy Murray has lost his opening match of a tournament.

Elsewhere in the Rome Masters, world number one Rafael Nadal beat Andreas Seppi 6-2, 6-3 to set up a third round match against Robin Soderling.

World number two Roger Federer beat Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 6-4 to face the number 16 seed. Radek Stepanek, in the third round of the ATP Rome Masters.

Also, world number three Novak Djokovic will face number 13 seed Tommy Robredo and 5th seed Juan Martin Del Potro will face the recent Monte Carlo Masters semi-finalist Stanislas Wawrinka.

Number six seed Fernando Verdasco has also made it through to the Rome Masters third round, but number seven seed Nikolay Davydenko has not made it through after suffering a 7-5, 7-6 defeat to Jurgen Melzer.

Tennis fans can catch their favourite players in action at the Wimbledon 2009 Grand Slam tournament in June. Wimbledon tickets are currently available with prices from £189.

The world’s top seeded players will also be in action in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in November, being held in the London O2 Arena.

Tickets for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals are available to compare at tixdaq.com.