Andy Murray won through to the Rome Masters second round when Juan Martin Del Potro was forced to pull out of their first-round match through injury.

Hoping to improve on the form he has shown on clay recently, the Scot struggled in the first set and dropped serve in the 12th game to go 1-0 down.

But the 20-year-old got his gameplan spot on thereafter, mixing his play up brilliantly to take the initiative.

Murray was 5-7 6-4 1-0 up when Del Porto retired with a back injury.

The Argentine qualifier, 19, was in excrutiating pain as he received treatment at a break down in the third set and it was not long before the ATP trainer advised him to call a halt to the contest.

Murray had had to endure a three-hour rain delay to the start of the match and during that testing first set he uttered an expletive that earned him a warning from the umpire.

That was after the weather had once again halted the match after just two games, and the interruptions did not help 16th seed Murray, as Del Potro managed to read his drop shots and serve-volley combinations.

But the Scot will have been buoyed by his form in the second set, during which Del Potro was forced onto the back foot as Murray broke in games seven and nine to level the match.

Murray broke again at the start of the third but, in struggling to reach another drop-shot from the Scot, Del Potro pulled a back muscle and could not continue.

Murray will now face Stanislas Wawrinka after the Swiss beat Marat Safin 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-1.


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