Third seed Andy Murray was outclassed on his least favourite surface by Chile's Fernando Gonzalez on Tuesday, losing 6-3, 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 in the French Open quarter-finals.
Gonzalez tormented the Briton with his devastating forehand and was helped by Murray's easy misses as he booked a semi-final against Robin Soderling, the Swede who knocked out four-times champion and world number one Rafael Nadal in the fourth round.
Soderling built on the momentum that allowed him to beat Nadal with a 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 drubbing of Russian 10th seed Nikolay Davydenko earlier.
"I guess he's a better claycourt player," Murray told a news conference.
"I think I had my chances but didn't take them and he came up with some big shots in the mean time."
The 12th seeded Gonzalez broke in the eighth game before serving out the set and claiming it with a forehand winner on his fourth set point.
Murray, who has never won a title on clay and was appearing in the Roland Garros last eight for the first time, levelled the match when the Chilean sent a forehand long, dropping his first set at these championships.
The world number three, who has enjoyed his best claycourt season, seemed to lose concentration in the 24-minute third and gifted Gonzalez the set when he slammed a routine smash into the net.
Gonzalez won on his first match point in the fourth when Murray's forehand hit the top of the net and the ball seemed to waver a second as if deciding which way to go before bouncing back towards him.
Victory meant Gonzalez became the first Chilean to reach a Roland Garros semi-final.