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.
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Japanese star Nishikori clinched a dramatic 1-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 comeback triumph in a shade under four hours against the Wimbledon and Olympics victor and 2012 US Open champion.
He went from leading two sets to one, plus a break point at 1-1 in the fourth, to losing that set and trailing 2-0 in the fifth. I didn’t serve so well, obviously.
At 5-5 in the fifth and decisive set, and with Murray serving, Nishikori hit a handsome drop shot that Murray scrambled to return before Nishikori finished off the break point with a flawless volley to the back corner. “That was the difference”.
“That was a big moment in the match, obviously, at that stage”, said Murray afterward. Yeah, I don’t really care about what, you know, they doing.
He also spoke to a tournament supervisor about it, pleading his case and saying, “That’s not fair”.
Karolina Pliskova had a much easier time against Ana Konjuh, the 18-year-old Croatian folding completely under the pressure of facing the best serve in women’s tennis right now.
U.S. Open officials later released a statement saying the sound was from a digital audio sound processor that malfunctioned.
The Scot earned a third break to go up 5-4, then served out the set to regain the advantage.
Murray seemed rattled by a call in the fourth set as he appeared poised to register an early service break but would not blame defeat on it.
A butterfly persistently fluttering around the net only added to Murray’s annoyance as the 2012 champion lost seven straight games.
Nevertheless, Murray has has a successful summer, winning Wimbledon, an Olympic gold medal in Rio and reaching seven consecutive tournament finals.
“I think definitely under the roof he was able to dictate more of the points”, Murray said.
Del Potro came back to win the second set and restore parity in the match but it was evident midway into the third set that he had run out of steam.
Well, I mean, I tried to stay calm and I try not to do too many up and downs, especially my mental side.
Third seed Wawrinka sealed his place in the last four at Flushing Meadows by ousting a resurgent Juan Martin del Potro 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-3 6-2 in a match which ended in the early hours of Thursday morning in NY.
Meanwhile, the semifinal matches will begin on September 9, when defending champion Novak Djokovic take on 10th seeded Gael Monfils. “I know he is staying back, (so) it worked really well today”. “Her level really picked up in the second but I had some opportunities that I didn’t take”. Last couple games I took little chance, and won the whole thing.
Andy Murray was in complete control in the early part of his quarterfinal match at the US Open Wednesday, cruising to a win in the first set.
“To be honest, I don’t care at what time it came”.
Right at the start of the third set, Halep held two break points at 15-40, but Williams came through to lead 1-0. “It’s a little bit different than other grand slams”, he said.
Instead, Williams converted the only break chance she would get – or need – in the deciding set to go ahead 3-1, and was on her way.
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Murray, seeded second, led by two sets to one but eventually lost 1-6 6-4 4-6 6-1 7-5 in three hours 57 minuteson Wednesday night.
