Murray is blown out by Gasquet

Andy Murray's Masters Series odyssey ended in the Rogers Cup semi-finals in Toronto yesterday when he lost 6-2 7-5 to the young Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

Yet the British No 1, who also reached the Washington final last Sunday, was positive, saying: "I'm definitely not disappointed about this week. I obviously could have played a little better today.

"But I've had two really good weeks. I'm going to be inside the top 25 now. I'm going to get a seeding at the US Open. I've got a lot of things to be happy about."

Gasquet is, at 20, a year older than Murray, and has been in sublime form since the French Open, winning titles at Nottingham and Gstaad with a 16-3 record. Two of those defeats came against the world No 1, Roger Federer, who was due to play the second semi-final against Fernando Gonzalez, of Chile, late last night and is on a 52-match winning streak on American hard courts. The Swiss has also reached the final in his last 17 tournaments.

Gasquet secured an early break to lead 3-1 and then stretched away to 5-1 as Murray's unforced errors mounted. The Scot had his only break of the match at 5-2, but the Frenchman immediately responded with another break to close out the set.

With his new coach, Brad Gilbert, in the stands, Murray showed plenty of battling spirit through a tight second set that was not decided until Gasquet broke at 6-5, sealing the match with a sweet backhand pass.