Nishikori, who became the first Asian man to reach a grand slam final when he finished runner-up at the 2014 US Open, scored a 1-6 6-4 4-6 6-1 7-5 victory on Wednesday.
Advertisement
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.
It thudded around the stadium and echoed eerily beneath the roof which had been closed due to rain midway through the second set. I wanted to use that to my advantage as the tournament goes on.
The only time in the past six seasons that Murray failed to get at least this far at a major that he entered came a year ago at the U.S. Open, when he lost to Kevin Anderson in the fourth round.
The Briton squandered his chances and lost the game.
The U.S. Tennis Association says a digital audio sound processor at court level malfunctioned during the U.S. Open quarterfinal between Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori.
“Obviously today I ran out of fuel I think, physically and mentally”.
The Japanese twice came up with an immediate response to Murray breaks during a tight third set, but the Olympic champion made a third gain stick and held serve to go back in front.
Nishikori will face the victor of Wednesday night’s quarterfinal between 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro and No. 3 seed Stan Wawrinka.
Playing in the fourth round of his 23rd Grand Slam tournament in succession, Murray was on his game from the start. Between the changeover Murray complained to the tournament supervisor and when play resumed he never won another game in the set. “(I realized) I have to change something to win the match”.
“It was definitely up there”, said Murray.
“Unfortunately, I’m in the part of the draw with Serena”, Pliskova said.
Despite his utter dominance, the Scot remained fired up and continued to urge himself on, fizzing a spectacular running cross-court forehand victor past Dimitrov to break for the seventh time.
Andy Murray contests his sixth US Open quarterfinal today, looking to maintain his stranglehold over Kei Nishikori and take a step closer to a dream title showdown with Novak Djokovic.
“Sometimes”, Murray said, “the gun can be a bit wrong, possibly”.
Nishikori has only beaten Murray once in eight meetings. “You want to try and complete as many matches outdoors as possible”.
“This is where it all started so it’s always so magical out here for me – 308 sounds pretty good”.
“If someone had offered me the summer that I have had before Wimbledon, I probably would have signed for that”. Down 4-2 in the fifth, Murray reeled off three winning games, stirring the boisterous Ashe crowd into a noisy tumult.
As Murray broke back in the following game, Dimitrov took a wild kick at a ball in frustration and barely made contact. Murray was up a set and it was tied 3-3 in the second, but Nishikori said the pause allowed him to regroup and figure out a different strategy.
But back came Nishikori, stunning his rival to break again for 3-2 before holding for 4-2 as both men thrilled with a series of big hits, subtle touches and exhausting athleticism.
Advertisement
It was Nishikori’s turn to switch the momentum in the fourth set, blasting forehands all over the court and making Murray scramble for most every shot.
