Montreal Masters - Murray Defeat Clears Nadal's Path

Andy Murray's preparations for the US Open were dealt a huge blow by South African Kevin Anderson at the Montreal Masters.

Having got to the second round after a bye in the first, Murray was playing his first match in the tournament. And it wasn't pretty watching him. The Scot looked rusty and sluggish, while Anderson handed him a sound trouncing.

Murray, who is the defending champion, eventually lost 6-3 6-1, paving a free path for world number two Rafael Nadal in the tournament.

Anderson had surged into a 3-0 first set lead, before Murray could hold serve, while a series of unforced errors in the second set made it easy for the world number 35.

"I just felt very slow, the game seemed to be going so fast," Murray said afterwards.

"I've trained really hard to get ready for the tournament. I've always played very well here," he told BBC 5 live."I couldn't get anything going. I started both sets really, really badly which doesn't help against someone that serves like Kevin.

"I trained in Miami for two weeks before I came here on Thursday." added Murray.

Elsewhere, world number one Novak Djokovic couldn't get on with his campaign after rain brought the day's play to an early end. He will now play the match, against Nikolay Davydenko, on Wednesday.

Third seed Roger Federer will face Vasek Pospisil after the Canadian shocked Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela with a 4-6 6-3 6-4 win.