French Open: Murray Crashes Out in Paris

Andy Murray's French Open is over after a 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 5-7 third-round defeat to world No20 Nicolas Almagro.

Murray started badly, losing his opening service game of the match. Almagro then held serve comfortably throughout the first set to close it out 6-3. The match got tighter in the second, going with serve until Murray finally edged the tie-break 7-5.

The Scot rallied gainfully in the third set, employing his full range of ground strokes, volleys and drop shots to upset the clay court specialist's rhythm. He broke Almagro in the third game to make it 2-1. But, having got to 3-2, the Scot suffered a devastating collapse in form. Almagro took six straight games after Murray lost his serve at 3-4 - a crucial break that the Spaniard took advantage of to take the set 6-3.

Murray was broken again at the beginning of the fourth as his bad patch continued but then broke back when Almagro served for the set in the 10th game to take it to 5-5. At deuce in the 11th game, Almagro secured another break to serve for the match at 6-5. A visibly frayed Murray could not put off the inevitable, going down 7-5.

Rafael Nadal advanced to the fourth round of the French Open after demolishing Jarkko Nieminen, dropping just five games.

The world No2 needed to save four break points in the third game of the opening set but, having done so, he proved irrepressible, breaking 26th-seed Nieminen in game four before going on to win the next three games and claim the set. Nadal's run of winning games stretched to seven, putting him a break up in the second set on his fourth successive day on court at Roland Garros.

The defending champion's progress was hampered briefly just before the final set - not by his opponent, but by severe blisters on his right foot that needed treatment. But he secured victory on his third match point in just under two hours.

The Spaniard, who has won all of the 24 matches that he has played at Roland Garros, will face either Russia's Mikhail Youzhny or compatriot Fernando Verdasco for a place in the quarter-finals.

Latvian teenager Ernests Gulbis moved into the fourth round with a convincing straight-sets victory over Nicolas Lapentti. Gulbis, at 19 the youngest player left in the men's singles, beat the Ecuadorian 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 to claim three successive wins on clay for the first time in his career.

World No80 Gulbis will play Michael Llodra or Simone Bolelli next and, with just two seeds left in his quarter of the draw, has a realistic chance of making the last eight at Roland Garros.

Men's singles results: Julien Benneteau (Fra) bt Alejandro Falla (Col) 1-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-0; Florent Serra (Fra) bt Victor Hanescu (Rom) 6-4 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5).