Ball boy bemuses Troicki

Paris - Victor Troicki admitted he had been left completely bemused after a ball boy ran onto the court during a point in his French Open defeat by British fourth seed Andy Murray on Tuesday.

Leading 3-2 in the fifth set, Troicki was denied a 0-15 lead on Murray's serve when a ball boy mistakenly ran onto the court next to the net as the Serbian 15th seed smashed an overhead past his opponent.

The youngster then retreated in bashful fashion, while Troicki was left agog as the umpire ordered the point to be replayed.

Troicki eventually secured a break of serve to go 4-2 up, but was eventually beaten 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5.

"I had never seen that," Troicki said of the ball boy incident.

"I haven't ever seen it on TV. Not since I've been watching and playing tennis have I ever seen such a situation.

"The kid just jumped in and messed up my point. I can't blame him but still, I was a little bit disappointed."

Despite his annoyance, Troicki conceded that the umpire had had no choice but to call for the point to be replayed.

"The rule is that if he (the ball boy) is in the middle of the court, we should replay the point," he said.

"Andy had no chance to get back in for the point. But, according to the rules, we had to replay the point.

"He (Murray) didn't do anything wrong, he just continued playing the point. He was lucky the kid came in, but I would have done the same if it had been me."

Murray will play unseeded Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela for a place in the semi-finals.