Published : Sept. 6, 2013 - 20:13
NEW YORK (AP) ― The earliest real signs of trouble for Andy Murray came in the 10th game of his U.S. Open quarterfinal. For 22 points stretched over 15 excruciating minutes Thursday, Murray’s body language was as poor as his play.
When the 2012 champion pushed a simple forehand into the net, he smacked his palm against his forehead, once, twice, three times. When he left a similarly routine forehand too low, he mocked his footwork by pressing one shoe atop the other. When he sailed a later forehand long, he rolled his eyes and muttered. When he delivered his second double-fault, he swiped the ground with his racket.
Andy Murray reacts during a break between sets on Thursday. (AP-Yonhap News)
And when he rushed yet another forehand on break point No. 6 of that key game ― the ball drifting long to cede a set to his far-less-accomplished opponent, ninth-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka ― Murray cracked his racket on the court. Not satisfied, he trudged to his changeover chair and whacked the racket again, mangling the frame.
Trying to defend a Grand Slam title for the first time, and not quite two months removed from his historic Wimbledon championship, a drained Murray bowed out quickly, if not quietly, at Flushing Meadows, losing 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 to Wawrinka in a result that was surprising both because of who won and by how much.
“I have had a good run the last couple of years,” said the third-seeded Murray, who shook his hands in front of his face and screamed after dropping the second set. “It’s a shame I had to play a bad match today.”
The first Grand Slam semifinal of Wawrinka’s career, in his 35th appearance, will come Saturday against No. 1 Novak Djokovic, the 2011 U.S. Open champion. Djokovic overcame a third-set lull and beat 21st-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 on Thursday night to reach the semifinals in New York for the seventh year in a row. It’s also the 14th consecutive Grand Slam tournament where Djokovic is in the semifinals, a 3 1/2-year streak.
“Level of confidence is right at the top, very close, because I have been playing most of my matches here very aggressive, very dominantly,” Djokovic said. “I have been very satisfied with my performances overall in the whole tournament so far. And even tonight, even though I dropped a set, I feel I was in control.”
The other semifinal is No. 2 Rafael Nadal against No. 8 Richard Gasquet.