As for who he’ll meet in the semifinals, that is still to be decided.
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Japan’s Kei Nishikori overcame second seed Andy Murray for a gruelling 1-6 6-4 4-6 6-1 7-5 see-saw victory on Wednesday to reach the U.S. Open semi-finals.
After all, Murray’s extended discussions with Cicak and another official about the unusual episode came during a stretch in which he dropped 12 of 14 points.
It was a very comfortable first set for Murray, who held his four service games in addition to securing two breaks to claim the opener in just 37 minutes of tennis in NY.
But Nishikori wasn’t to be denied this time as Murray dumped a routine backhand in to the net and sparked Japanese celebrations.
“Wayne McKewen told me that it happened four times during the match that the speakers had gone off like that”, Murray said of the ensuing argument. “He had a couple of breakpoints in the first game but once I got up in the score, wasn’t giving him any free points, I could sense it was getting tough for him. That was the difference”. “He beat me. So it’s going to be a good match again”. Murray complained about that right away, then again at the ensuing changeover, when he also spoke to a tournament supervisor. Murray also blasted his big serves, maxing out at 135 miles per hour, but he couldn’t convert the key points when it mattered most.
“One of the three digital audio sound processors in Arthur Ashe Stadium malfunctioned”, the statement read. “You know, if someone had offered me the summer that I have had, before Wimbledon, I probably would have signed for that”. But he wouldn’t take another game in a thrill-a-minute contest that lasted almost 4 hours.
He broke the Scotsman in the 11th game of the fifth set with a brilliant reflex volley and served out to complete the comeback triumph.
Murray won the first of his three career majors at the US Open in 2012 and will be the favourite to make a fourth semifinal at the season’s last grand slam.
In a match which featured 17 breaks of serve, Nishikori prevailed for only his second win in nine matches against the world number two. A forehand down the line helped Murray hold from his next service game – to break a run of six in a row from Nishikori – and the success appeared to reinvigorate him.
In the end, the match appeared to be one battle too many for a visibly tired Murray whose exploits this season have seen him claim a third Grand Slam title and a successful defence of his Olympic crown.
The Scot looked to have regained control after breaking back and levelling at 2-2 in the fifth set but he was then broken for the eighth occasion in the match, this time from 40-15.
But this time, 2014 U.S. Open runner-up Nishikori came through. So what I gather from that is I really could have played better in that second set and maybe had an opportunity to win in straights. Sure enough, that’s what happened at the Olympics, when the big Argentine defeated Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in his stunning run to a silver medal.
Murray never gave Dimitov a look-in in a win which set up meeting with Kei Nishikori.
“I wasn’t very happy about that, but I tried not to let that get me down”, Williams said about all the chances she let slip away. “He started returning a bit better and I didn’t serve so well”.
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Next up for Murray is Japan’s Olympic bronze medallist Kei Nishikori, a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) victor over Ivo Karlovic. “It’s a little bit different than other grand slams”, he said.
