Ailing Stanislas Wawrinka succumbs to Tommy Haas in Italy
Andy Murray reaches his second straight clay quarter-final after his sixth ace ends Jurgen Melzer's campaign
Monte Carlo champion Stanislas Wawrinka joined fellow Swiss Roger Federer on the scrapheap at the ATP-WTA Rome Masters on Thursday as back pain resulted in a 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 loss to 15th seed Tommy Haas.
The 36-year-old has now won both of his matches with Wawrinka, a 2008 finalist at the Foro Italico.
Andy Murray, who quit the event with back problems a year ago and eventually required surgery, closed out a welcome win over Juergen Melzer with his sixth ace for a 7-6 (7-1), 6-4 result which puts him into his second straight clay quarter-final after Madrid a week ago.
Even though, I still thought I had a chance to win it. He was more aggressive
Germany’s Haas ended with seven aces to eight for Wawrinka, who could not hold onto leads throughout a two-hour contest.
The winner produced 32 winners, while Wawrinka struck 40 unforced errors.
Haas broke in the third set for 5-3, then finished with an ace a game later on his first match point.
Wawrinka said that after playing a match in the chill two days earlier, he started having back problems.
But experience told him that the worry is not serious and should not affect his chances for Roland Garros starting in 10 days.
“It was difficult to give the intensity. I know my back, I just need some rest – maybe two days is enough – but I’m not worried about it,” he said.
“I played because I wanted to try. It was not easy to put all energy onto my game. I won the first set even if I was not playing my best.
“Even though, I still thought I had a chance to win it. He was more aggressive in the second set and was doing more things on the court.”
Murray now has a perfect 7-0 record over Austrian Melzer, who is back on court after shoulder problems,
The winner spent just under one and three-quarter hours on the clay as his confidence on his least favourite surface starts to improve.
Canadian eighth seed Milos Raonic reached his first Rome quarter-final with a defeat of French 11th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.
Jeremy Chardy, who beat Federer 24 hours earlier, kept up his momentum by defeating Ivan Dodig 6-3, 6-2.
