By Ros Satar
Stanislas Wawrinka [13] def. Andy Murray [2] 6-1 6-2
Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka halted Murray’s clay-court campaign in Monte Carlo with a straight sets defeat, 6-1, 6-2.
There is a reason why Stan Wawrinka held a 2-0 advantage on the clay against Murray, coming into this match (despite the head to head being 8-4 in Murray’s favour).
Wawrinka hardly put a foot wrong after defending two break points on his first service game, and from than point Murray could not get into his game at all.
Murray then had to save two break points of his own before dumping a forehand into the net to give Wawrinka the early break.
Things did not improve for Murray when a double-fault and a wayward volley handed Wawrinka the double break.
The first set went to Wawrinka with his third successive break of Murray’s serve, 6-1.
Murray held the first of his service games in the second set, stopping the run of games against him.
A shocking backhand volley from Murray sailed out to give Wawrinka a break in the second set, to lead 4-2.
All it took was for Wawrinka to break Murray again for a third clay-court victory against the world no. 2, who now will slip back a place to no. 3.
Wawrinka dictated the points, ably helped by Murray’s 24 unforced errors, and Murray admitted that he would have to work hard in the next two weeks to play better in Madrid.
That would indicate he is not likely to accept a wildcard into the ATP 500 in Barcelona.
