Andy Murray was dumped out of the Rome Masters with a 6-2 7-6(5) defeat at the hands of Swiss player Stanislas Wawrinka.

It was a gutsy performance from Murray, who received attention from the trainer in the first set for a muscle complaint, but the Scot could do little to match his opponent on the clay of the Eternal City.

Wawrinka is a far more experienced player on the red stuff and he proved as much on Court One as he avenged two previous defeats to Murray - both on different surfaces - this year.

Prior to the match the omens appeared good for Murray as those two victories were followed by tournament wins - in Doha and Marseille - but he allowed Wawrinka to break early in the first set to take a 3-1 lead and having already tweaked his thigh, there did not appear to be a way back for him.

Several complaints about movement in the crowd later, Murray double faulted at 0-40 and 2-5 down to hand Wrawinka the opening set.

Carrying an injury and unhappy at the crowd, it would have been easy for Murray to throw in the towel, but he came out a different player for the second set and displayed a gustiness and willingness to scrap with which he is not often associated.

He broke Wawrinka in the first game of the second set and managed to hold that advantage until the eighth game when the Swiss finally broke back.

Wawrinka wasted four match points at 5-4 up before Murray took the set to a decisive tie break.

But a wayward shot at 6-5 down handed Wawrinka a deserved victory as well as a place in the third round where he will now meet Juan Carlos Ferrero, victor over Rafael Nadal earlier in the day.

Mike Hytner / Eurosport