Tennis:Andy Murray lost his first clay-court match of the season in straight sets to Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber at the Monte Carlo Masters. The 22-year-old Scot was out of sorts on Court Central as he was broken five times in total by Kohlschreiber, the world 33, to lose 6-2 6-1 in just over an hour.
The loss continued the world number four's poor form since reaching the Australian Open final, which has seen him now exit his last two tournament at the first time of asking.
Murray reached the semi-finals at Monte Carlo last year and was given a wild card entry by the tournament organisers, following his late request to play, to kick-off his clay-court preparations ahead of next month's French Open.
But his plans were dealt an immediate blow by Kohlschreiber following an abject performance.
The Scot was broken twice in the opening set, during which his usual fight for the contest was clearly lacking.
Kohlschreiber fed off his opponent's lethargy before wrapping up the set when Murray hit a routine smash long from the net.
Things did not improve for the Scot in the second set when, after winning his opening service game, Kohlschreiber reeled off the next six to easily close out a match he described as one of the best of his career.
"It was almost a perfect match from beginning to end," the 26-year-old German said.
"I made not many mistakes and I had a lot of power in my game. I think I played really well.
"I'm very happy of course. Yesterday after three sets I felt a little bit my adductor. But I feel great and such a victory gives me a lot of confident."
Kohlschreiber admitted Murray had shown signs of rustiness in his first match on clay for the new season.
"It is very tough for him. I was not missing much and I was playing with a lot of top spin," he added.
"I knew that he doesn't like the high spin, and I think he really didn't know what to do.
"It was his first clay-court match so maybe it was the reason."
(Murray admitted his form was poor after he also lost in straight sets against Mardy Fish, who was then outside the top 100, at the Miami Masters last time out.
"The last two tournaments have been bad. It's been a long time since I lost a couple of matches like this," he said.
"I have to make sure that I don't panic."
Speaking about his performance today, the Scot added: "I just couldn't find the court. When it's like that, it's kind of difficult to play.
"I tried a few different things. I tried serve and volleying a couple of times, I tried hitting some high balls.
"(It) didn't make a whole lot of difference."