Murray dumped out of Rome Masters by Monaco

ANDY Murray's hopes of breaking into the world's top three are in tatters after a second-round defeat at the Rome Masters to Argentina's Juan Monaco.

DOWN AND OUT: Andy Murray's hopes of reaching the top three in the world are over after defeat at the Rome Masters (Getty Images) 

The Scot, who needed to progress past the second round to pick up any ranking points in his pursuit of world number three Novak Djokovic, slumped to a three-sets defeat 6-1 3-6 5-7.

Murray proved victorious in his last clash with Monaco in Miami earlier this year but the British No.1 crashed out in round two in Rome for the second consecutive year.

The 21-year-old Brit flew out of the blocks and raced into a 5-0 lead in the opening set, as a comfortable victory and place in the next round beckoned.

Monaco finally broke his duck to make it 5-1 but as Murray's serve sparkled, the Scot eased his way into a one-set lead over his 25-year-old opponent.

The 25-year-old Argentine fought back in the second set and took 2-0 and 4-2 leads before racing to take the set 6-3 as Murray's serve faultered.

The ascendancy was with the world number 58 in the third set and while Murray battled back to 5-5, having earlier lost his serve, Monaco proved too strong.

“He made lots of mistakes in the first set but he then started to play much better,” said Murray.

“The court was very damp at the start but when it dried out, he dictated the points and it wasn’t my best match.

“I was close to winning, so I can’t be too disappointed.”