Andy Murray's spell as world No.2 has ended in emphatic style after a 6-1 6-2 defeat to Stanislas Wawrinka in the Monte Carlo Masters third round.

After leapfrogging Roger Federer following victory at the Miami Masters last month, defeat to Juan Martin del Potro in Indian Wells and an early end to his French Open preparation will see him replaced by the 17-time grand slam champion next week.

Despite defeating Edouard Roger-Vasselin in round two, Murray was outclassed by Wawrinka in every aspect, losing in straight sets in lacklustre fashion.

Murray's succession of errors made the task easier for the 13th seeded Swiss, making 24 unforced errors over the course of the two sets.

The US Open champion has now lost all three of his clay-court match-ups with Wawrinka, but having played just one previous match on the surface this year, compared to his opponents' 12, Murray admitted he lacked practice.

Andy Murray
Andy Murray says he struggled once more on the clay-court surface.

"I made a lot of mistakes - 24 unforced errors is far too many, a sets' worth," he explained. "He served well, won some points from there and when I started making a lot of errors I was hitting the ball shorter and he was able to dictate a lot of points from there.

"I've played some good tournaments here. But, yeah, it does take me time to feel comfortable on the surface. I need matches against top players to see what's going wrong and what's going right, things I need to work on to get better.

"Normally towards the end of the clay court season, I start to feel better with my game and I've had some good results, but at the start I have struggled a little bit.

"I need to work very hard over the next two weeks to get myself ready for Madrid."

Wawrinka will now face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter final on Friday, while Murray regroups ahead of the Madrid Masters, which start on the 5 May.