ANDY Murray last night claimed opponent Juan Martin Del Potro insulted his mother during his ill-tempered win at the Rome Masters.
Murray will play Stanislas Wawrinka in the second round after Del Potro retired with a back injury in the deciding third set of a game also interrupted by rain.
The players exchanged words during an edgy match – some of them seemingly prompted
by Del Potro's criticism of Judy Murray's vocal support for her son – and the Scot said in The Times: "I will accept lots of things, but not when someone insults my mum, the nicest person in the world."
The Argentine qualifier had just been broken to go 1-0 down when he immediately called for the trainer at the change of ends. Del Potro was in significant pain and appeared to be close to tears but after five minutes' treatment he admitted defeat.
The tide had turned for world No 17 Murray after he had taken the first set 7-5, losing the second 6-4 and then going behind in the third before injury struck.
It was not the best of matches, with rain forcing the players off court after just 13 minutes with the score at 1-1.
When they returned Murray was warned for uttering an audible obscenity and in the next the Scot and Del Potro then exchanged words about their respective behaviour.
The tennis was not up to much either, with Murray broken three times and his opponent twice as Del Potro forged ahead 7-5 in the first set.
The first six games of the second went with serve before Murray claimed the crucial break. He was immediately broken back but overcame the Del Potro serve once again and closed out the set 6-4. A third successive service break put him ahead in the third before injury struck.
Murray earned himself a meeting with Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka, who beat former world No 1 Marat Safin 6-7, 6-2, 6-1.
Roger Federer face bogeyman Guillermo Canas in the second round after the Argentine beat Italian wildcard Gianluca Naso 6-7, 6-3, 6-2.
Canas is one of the few players on tour to have a winning record against the world No 1 – triumphing in three of their five clashes – but yesterday he had to work hard to book a meeting with the Swiss.
Federer has a bye to the second round along with Rafael Nadal, who is aiming for his fourth consecutive Rome Masters title.
Richard Gasquet's shaky form continued when the French ninth seed was beaten 6-4 6-1 by Peruvian qualifier Luis Horna in the first round.
Gasquet, the only world top ten player not to have reached an ATP quarter-final this year, fell apart after losing his serve in the seventh game of the first set with two consecutive double faults.
"I played maybe my worst match of the year," Gasquet told a news conference. "After I started losing the first set I lost all my confidence and I was really lost on court. Anyone here could have beaten me."
Belgium's Steve Darcis will take on the Australian Open champion, Novak Djokovic, after edging past Croat Ivan Ljubicic 7-5, 7-6.
Argentina's Juan Monaco, the 13th seed, beat Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas 6-0, 6-4 and next up he faces Russia's Igor Andreev.
The full article contains 568 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
