Andy Murray’s golden summer run came down crashing on day ten of the US Open 2016 when he lost to Kei Nishikori in five-set quarterfinal, after a loud noise from a malfunctioning sound system interrupted a key point.
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Murray, who had lost only one match since his defeat to Novak Djokovic in the French Open final three months ago, had been viewed in some quarters as the favourite to win his fourth Grand Slam title here.
Nishikori is into his second Grand Slam final four and in it he’ll face Stan Wawrinka who stayed up late to stop the run of former champion Juan Martin del Potro 7-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in match that ended about 1:20am ET.
Murray trailed Djokovic by 5,535 points heading into the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam this year.
“After a few days away, I would imagine I’d be very happy with how I’ve done and learn from this match and the summer as a whole, because it’s been tough”.
“He’s better player than me, definitely”, said Monfils who has yet to drop a set but has not faced a seeded player.
Andy Murray has bowed out of the US Open after being beaten in five sets by Kei Nishikori at Flushing Meadows.
His win came just three weeks after losing to Murray in the Olympic semi-finals. “I mean, I can lose the match, but I will never forget this”. Further, Murray’s serve slowly started to betray him as his first serve percentage declined significantly, allowing Nishikori to become more aggressive on his returns.
Australian and French Open victor Wawrinka’s last game was delayed while the crowd saluted the popular del Potro, who missed the past two US Opens because of three wrist operations.
Those are the bare bones of what happened in the first quarter-final on a hot and windless Wednesday afternoon, played mostly under the new roof on the Arthur Ashe Court. He picked on Murray’s second serve – Murray’s percentage of points won behind the second delivery dipped to 21 in set four – and for the most part, sparkled at the net. “He’s been playing good tennis”, said Nishikori who has a double target this weekend.
But after going 0 for 12 on break points in the second set, Williams righted herself, broke on her first opportunity of the third to go ahead 3-1, and was on her way.
Wawrinka, the third seed in the tournament was down 1-4 in the first set against crowd favourite Del Potro. I need to just to stay healthy and wait for the preseason to get 100% for next year.
6-1 in the first set.
Serving for the match, Nishikori did not waver as a Murray backhand dropped into the net and confirmed defeat after three hours and 58 minutes. In the eighth game Nishikori led 40-15 as he looked to move 5-3 in front, but Murray came alive, drawing errors from the sixth seed as he broke back to level at 4-4.
Murray, seemingly annoyed by its presence, swung his racket in anger at the butterfly but failed to make a full connection.
The 29-year-old lost seven games on the bounce after complaining with the umpire over a “gong” noise that halted play in the fourth set. “They stopped the point and I was just curious why that was”, said Murray.
Meanwhile, Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares beat Chris Guccione and André Sa 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 to reach the semi-finals of the men’s doubles.
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It happened for a second time during a Murray break point, with umpire Marija Cicak ordering the point to be replayed.
