Cilic’s rise booted Jo-Wilfried Tsonga out of a top eight U.S. Open seed.
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When asked about the extent of his injury, the Scot said: “After the first match I played, I was having problems with my shoulder”.
Unseeded Dimitrov will tackle Johnson in the quarters while Croatian teenager Coric tests his skills against countryman Marin Cilic, a 6-3 4-6 6-4 victor over Czech Tomas Berdych in the late-night match at the Lindner Family Tennis Center.
The British No 1, who won his 600th ATP Tour match on Thursday, secured a straight sets win over the Australian, although it was not as easy as the scoreline might suggest.
He told the elite circuit’s official website: “I’m very proud of this week”. I felt today that everything was good. “Obviously today didn’t go the way I would’ve wanted, but I certainly didn’t expect to get to the final”. It’s been a great run the last few months. After 11 minutes, play was resumed only for Murray to quickly take his chances and break in the first game. “I have to focus on a match against a tough opponent”.
“But it’s a very, very positive week”. That was enough to recover. “I’ve played a lot of tennis”.
The Canadian didn’t have the best start in this first semifinal as he hit a double fault to open his game of serve.
Cilic served out the match in his first try, converting his second championship point and unleashing a celebration that was every bit as emphatic as his performance.
The momentum continued as Murray held to love to start this second set 1-0.
“I was thinking, “Rafa please miss, I can not make a winner”, he said of Nadal’s fightback. I’ve needed it to be because I haven’t been feeling flawless. It was very humid on the court.
Dimitrov, who improved his record to 4-2 against Wawrinka, was near flawless on serve in the second set, dropping just three points.
“It took a bit of time to get into it, but I did all right”.
Murray has been on a tear this season, winning grass titles at Queen’s and Wimbledon before triumphing a week ago over Juan Martin del Potro at the Olympic final.
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Murray said, after his match: “I’m not going to be fresher than Marin or Grigor”.
