End of the road for Murray in Rome

Rome: Ailing Briton Andy Murray suffered another setback to his French Open preparations as he was beaten 6-7 6-3 6-2 by Richard Gasquet in the third round of the Rome Masters on Thursday.

The world No 4, who continues to be troubled by a long-term back injury, dominated the first set tie break, but was made to pay for missing 15 of 17 break points as he lost to the 22nd ranked Frenchman in just under three hours.

Holder Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, who he beat in last year's final, reached the last eight in contrasting fashion.

Djokovic demonstrated the art of smashing a racket as he beat Argentina's Juan Monaco 4-6 6-2 6-3 while Nadal made light work of fellow Spaniard Marcel Granollers, winning 6-1 6-1.

Ongoing problem

Murray had reached the quarter-finals in Monte Carlo but pulled out of the Madrid Masters with a back injury before winning his opening match in Rome.

The Scot said his back had been a problem for several months and admitted it was a concern heading into the French Open, which begins on May 27.

"I don't really want to go into detail of what it is and what treatment I've had done, but I've had it a while, since December," Murray said.

"Since then there hasn't been that much time to take an extended break and now with the French Open, Wimbledon, Olympics and the US Open to come, there's not much time to take a rest.

"But hopefully by the time the French Open comes around I'll be in peak condition. That's the goal."

The swirling wind and shadows across the court made life difficult for both men, but 16th seed Gasquet took his chances to set up a quarter-final with Spain's David Ferrer, the sixth seed winning 6-0 7-6 against Gilles Simon of France.