Friday 13 February 2015 22:25, UK
Andy Murray suffered a shock exit at the ABN AMRO quarter-finals after an error-strewn defeat against Gilles Simon.
The world No 4 trailed from the start of both sets against Simon, who he had beaten in their previous 12 matches, and the French eighth seed ruthlessly closed out a 6-4 6-2 win in Rotterdam.
Starting the match in a listless manner, Murray surrendered his serve in the very first game, netting a backhand to concede a break without winning a point.
Simon had no such trouble on his own serve and forged a commanding 4-1 lead with a further break after Murray sliced a backhand wide.
Despite a string of mistakes, the Scot still gained a foothold, bringing up a break of his own with a sweeping backhand which he converted to reduce the deficit.
But Simon retained his composure as his lead was trimmed to 5-4 and served out the first set, taking it with a booming forehand.
Murray’s sliced backhand, normally an accurate weapon, was proving particularly wayward and he conceded yet another break in the opening game of the second set.
Worse was to follow in the third game as Simon broke once more, with Murray’s lashed forehand hitting the tape and bouncing out.
The British No 1 managed to haul back one break as he battled against defeat, but yet another sloppy backhand allowed Simon to serve for the match and Murray fittingly netted a forehand to seal his fate.
Simon will play defending champion Tomas Berdych in the semi-finals. Berdych beat France's Gael Monfils 6-1 6-4 earlier on Friday to stay on track to retain his title.
Stan Wawrinka powered into the semi-finals with a 7-6 6-3 win over Gilles Muller and next meets Milos Raonic.
The fourth seed was on fire in the opening set as he committed one error and fired at 100 per cent on first serves on his way to defeating Muller for the second time this season.
Wawrinka matched Muller on serve, with nine apiece, and finished with 21 winners.
"It was a really close first set, but it was a very good match for me," said Wawrinka, who last played here in 2005. "I'm getting better and better with each match.
"There was nothing really wrong with my game, I think I did everything pretty well. I'm very pleased with how it went. Gilles has such a big serve that there is little chance to break him. But I have to keep up this level for the semi-finals, nothing will be easy."
Raonic certainly did not have it easy in his quarter-final, and the second-seeded Canadian needed three sets to get past Ukraine's Sergiy Stakhovsky.
Stakhovsky took the set before Raonic eventually came through 2-6 6-3 6-4.
