Top four seeds separate at Monte-Carlo Masters third round

Top four seeds were halved in the third round of ATP Monte-Carlo Masters on Thursday, as top seed Andy Murray and third-seeded Stan Wawrinka were surprisingly blown out, while Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal managed to make into the quarter-finals.

In their first head-to-head, Spain's No. 15 seed Ramos-Vinolas denied Murray's hope for his first trophy of the tournament, as the top seed's best record was into the semi-finals in 2009, 2011 and 2016.

Murray squandered a 4-0 lead in the decider to hand Ramos-Vinolas one of the most memorable victories in his career.

"I made a few bad decisions today, which I'll look at with my team. We'll see the shots that I chose and what I would do differently," said Murray.

Ramos-Vinolas will face No. 5 seed Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals. The Croatian eliminated ninth-seeded and 2015 runner-up Tomas Berdych 6-2, 7-6 (0).

Wawrinka followed Murray's steps for a 6-4, 6-4 loss to Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, who recorded his first victory over a member of the Top 4 at world rankings.

"For sure, it was disappointing for me because I wanted to play better and go further here," commented the Swiss star, adding that he felt a little bit slow and could not move at his best in the match.

Cuevas will fight for a semi-finals spot against home player Lucas Pouille, whose fellow French Mannarino decided to retire due to a hip injury at 3-0 down in the first set.

Second-seeded Djokovic had to resist Pablo Carreno Busta's comeback for a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 victory, booking a quarter-finals clash with David Goffin of Belgium.

Facing German youngster Alexander Zverev, who spent his 20th birthday on Thursday, Nadal refused to replicate the five-set laboring victory in the third round of Australian Open, as he secured a last eight berth at 6-1, 6-1 in just 69 minutes.

Nadal will meet Diego Schwartzman, the only unseeded player remaining in the quarter-finals. Endit