But Murray complained about the ruling right away, gave away the next three points to lose the game, then brought it up again with Cicak at the ensuing changeover, saying something similar had happened earlier and play had continued.
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The world number two produced a flawless performance at the Arthur Ashe Stadium, thrashing the Bulgarian 6-1 6-2 6-2.
Andy Murray has admitted he is suffering from sleeping problems during the US Open, as he prepares to face Kei Nishikori for a place in the semi-finals.
Nishikori, the 2014 runner-up in NY, downed 37-year-old Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4). “Disappointed not to have won, but I’ve had a good run”.
Nishikori, spurred on by many Japanese supporters in the stadium, played a more attacking game.
“I got a lot of free points with my serve – that was important”.
“That helped me a lot to regroup the tactics”, Nishikori said.
That same type of noise came from the speakers again at 4-1 in the fourth set.
“His belief is higher than it’s ever been”, seven-time grand slam champion John McEnroe said on ESPN.
Nishikori was the 2014 runner-up at Flushing Meadows. I think I was lucky. “Hopefully we’ll both keep going. I felt like I didn’t know what to do”, said Nishikori, who met with his coaches in the locker room. Williams turns 35 on September 26.
Andy Murray of Great Britain after beating Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria on day eight of the 2016 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
It was hard to believe this was the man who had beaten Gilles Simon, Feliciano Lopez, Stan Wawrinka and Steve Johnson on his way to a semifinal defeat against eventual victor Marin Cilic in Cincinnati.
Olympic gold medallist Murray was virtually impenetrable as Dimitrov struggled, tallying 28 winners and just 23 unforced errors compared to his 22nd-seeded opponent, who was 13 and 43 for the match.
After going down a break early in the fourth set, Wawrinka took his frustrations out on his racket.
And he only gave up two in the second to win 6-2.
Wawrinka was the only victor to drop a set on Monday, but still won through in relatively comfortable fashion against Marchenko.
The other quarter-final in Murray’s side of the draw is between big-htting Rio 2016 finalist Juan Martin Del Potro and two-time Grand Slam victor Stan Wawrinka. Despite her entrenched position in the top 20 the Czech had never made it past the third round in a major in 17 prior tries.
At 36, Williams was trying to become the oldest Grand Slam quarterfinalist since Martina Navratilova was 37 at Wimbledon in 1994.
The fifth-seeded Romanian won 6-2, 7-5 on Monday. “My level is growing up every day”, – wildcard Del Potro continues his dream run after coming back from injury.
Suarez Navarro, seeded 11th, was seeking the sixth Grand Slam quarterfinal of her career.
The world number two held double break-point at 15-40 when chair umpire Mariana Alves called a let and a replay during a point Murray was controlling because of a loud, intrusive sound from the public address system. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the ATP. But the long season was starting to wear on his body. Murray has dropped only one set in the tournament, and del Potro has lost none. The 2009 U.S. Open champ missed the tournament the last two years after surgeries on his left wrist.
Del Potro got a huge break Monday when he spent only 72 minutes on court. He has played just 10-plus sets through four rounds, but still expects to be the underdog.
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Serena Williams and Simona Halep are heading to a third set in their U.S. Open quarterfinal. She will now face Karolina Pliskova for a spot in the semis.
