Andy Murray suffered an embarassing first round defeat at the hands of home favourite Robin Haase in the ATP Rotterdam event.

The young Scot crashed out 6-3 7-5 in just under an hour and half as he struggled to make any inroads on the big Dutchman's serve.

Murray had just two break points in the match, neither of which he converted, while Haase managed to successfully break with two of his 11 break point attempts.

Murray had come into the tournament in bullish mood after winning in Marseilles last week and cracking back into the Top 10.

Now he faces the prospect of dropping back down the rankings as this week he was defending the ranking points he earned for winning the San Jose Open last year.

"Today I didn't play very well and was not so happy with my returns," Murray said after the match.

"The circumstances were so different today compared to last week. The court was very slow and also the balls.

"Therefore it became a different match with rallies of eight or nine shots, while last week they were four or five."

Nevertheless the world's number 10 did not seem too disappointed about his second defeat the year and he looked forward to the outdoor season.

"This is just one of those matches you can afford in tournaments like this. It will not affect your ranking like Master Series or Grand Slams" he added.

"Now I will have some days off before I start preparing for Dubai and the Indian Wells and Miami stretch."

"It still has been a good start of the year."

It was the second big win of the season for Haase who knocked Ivan Ljubicic out of the Australian Open in the first round before crashing out to Sebastien Grosjean in the following round.

He is currently ranked number 94 in the world.

Seán Fay / Eurosport