Murray was upset 6-3, 6-1 by Kevin Anderson in the second round in Montreal.
Murray, who had a bye in the first round, was seeded fourth. He’s also fourth in the ATP rankings, while his South African opponent is ranked 35th.
Murray, who won the 2009 Rogers Cup in Montreal and defended his title last year in Toronto, said his South African opponent’s serve is the best part of his game.
“If he serves well — it’s a very fast court, it’s tough to break — he can be dangerous,” Murray said.
The current world No. 1, Novak Djokovic, didn’t get a chance to play Tuesday after a steady rain postponed his evening match against Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko — as well as several other scheduled late-afternoon and evening tilts.
Wednesday’s packed schedule will feature the three biggest names in the sport: Djokovic, No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
The former world No. 1 Federer lost last year’s Rogers Cup final to Murray — but there will be no rematch this year at Montreal’s Uniprix Stadium.
“I’ve always played very well here and today I couldn’t get anything going,” said Murray, who had 19 unforced errors in the match.
Also, Canada’s Vasek Pospisil reached the second round with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over 22nd-ranked Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina.
Earlier, German qualifier Philipp Petzschner beat ninth-seeded Gilles Simon of France 7-5, 6-2.
Petzschner will take on Ivo Karlovic of Croatia in the second round.
In other early action, No. 10 seed Richard Gasquet of France got past Floria Mayer of Germany 6-3, 6-2; American qualifier Michael Russell downed Spain’s Albert Montanes 7-5, 6-2; and Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky upended Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 7-5; Serbia’s Viktor Troicki beat American Michael Yani 2-6, 6-3, 6-1; Michael Llorda of France defeated Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 3-6, 6-3, 7-6; and Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia knocked out Colombia’s Alejandro Falla 7-5, 6-1.
In Toronto, Serena Williams earned a 6-0, 6-3 first-round victory against Ukraine’s Alona Bondarenko at the Rogers Cup on Tuesday.
The winner of 13 Grand Slam tournaments aced her second serve of the match.
No. 2 seed Kim Clijsters withdrew from her second-round match in the second set while leading 6-3, 1-2 against China’s Zheng Jie.
“I still have a few weeks till (the US Open) and we’ll try to do everything to be ready,” said Clijsters, who won the tournament in 2005.
The American got through the first set in 16 minutes using her speed and power, as a bewildered Bondarenko scattered across the court helplessly.
Bondarenko put up some fight early in the second, but could do little to contain Williams’ imposing serve and forehand.
Williams, who is working her way back from a foot injury that put her out of the WTA’s top 100, is using the tournament as warmup for the US Open.
Although she rolled on Tuesday, Williams stopped short of saying she’s Grand Slam-ready.
“I would hate to be Grand Slam-ready right now, seeing as how the US Open is not right now, so I’ll try to peak at the right time,” Williams said. “I want to get better on a few things. I definitely want to try and continue to do more and play harder.”
Clijsters shook her head after hitting a forehand and left the match with a reported stomach muscle problem.
It was her seventh appearance at the tournament, having won it in 2005 against Justine Henin.
Despite winning the Australian Open, Clijsters has been hampered this year by injuries. She injured her right ankle in April and then withdrew from tournaments in Rome and Madrid due to right shoulder and wrist injuries.
Canadians Stephanie Dubois and Aleksandra Wozniak advanced with first-round victories.
Dubois earned a 7-6 (4), 6-1 win over German qualifier Kathrin Woerle while Wozniak, from Blainville, Quebec, sailed past Israel’s Shahar Peer 6-1, 6-0.
Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic breezed past Chinese qualifier Shuai Zhang 6-1, 6-1. The 2006 champion hasn’t advanced past the second round of the tournament since 2007.
In other action Tuesday: Roberta Vinci got past Yanina Wickmayer 6-4, 6-2; China’s Shuai Peng eliminated Spain’s Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-1, 7-5; Spaniard Anabel Madinah Garrigues topped Italy’s Sara Errani 7-5, 6-1.
Serbia’s Bojana Jovanovski won against Jelena Dokic after the Australian retired in the first set; Italy’s Flavia Pennetta was a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Russia’s Maria Kirilenko; and Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova won 6-3, 6-4 over Argentina’s Gisela Dulko.
Dubois, a wild card entry from Laval, Quebec, fought hard in the first set before taking control in the second. She hit a backhand slice to break Woerle for a 3-0 lead in the second.
Woerle put up resistance when down 4-0, fighting back to deuce several times and causing Dubois to smash her racket against the court in frustration before losing the game.
However, Dubois regained her composure to close out the match and earn a meeting with fourth-seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.
Eugenie Bouchard, however, wasn’t able to join the Canadians in Round 2.
The 17-year-old wild card from Westmount, Quebec, lost 6-2, 6-2 to 10th-seeded German Andrea Petkovic after a rain delay of almost 3 1/2 hours.
