Share

Wawrinka wipes out Murray

New York - Defending champion Andy Murray was ousted from the US Open on Thursday, falling to Swiss ninth seed Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in a quarter-final shocker at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Wawrinka reached his first Grand Slam semi-final by stunning the reigning Olympic and Wimbledon champion, booking a Saturday last-four date against world number one Novak Djokovic, who beat Russian 21st seed Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 in the evening match.

Spanish second seed Rafael Nadal and French eighth seed Richard Gasquet will meet in Saturday's other semi-final.

"It feels amazing for sure, especially after that match against the defending champion," Wawrinka said. "It was a crazy match for me to beat him in three sets."

Relentless pressure from Wawrinka, who is deeper than 17-time Grand Slam champion compatriot Roger Federer in a Slam for the first time in his career, led to a Murray meltdown that doomed his repeat dreams.

"He played great. That was the hardest part about the match," Murray said.

"He just hit the ball extremely well. I didn't create a break point chance. He served well. He hit a lot of lines, was going for big shots, and he played too well."

A grim-faced Murray set a record for hustling to the interview room, arriving before Wawrinka could even leave the court after the match, the 26-year-old Scotsman's stoic visage a sign of his unhappiness.

"I would have liked to have played a little bit better," Murray said. "It's a shame I had to play a bad match today."

For only the second time in 146 Grand Slam matches, Murray failed to manage even a break point against an opponent, and it came on a day when Wawrinka ignored the wind to fire 45 winners, three times Murray's total.

"The first set was not really easy. It was very windy. We were trying to find the game," Wawrinka said. "To get that gave me a little bit of confidence for sure.

"I was trying to focus on what I did, playing solid and aggressive, to go for taking the match and not let him come back."

The 28-year-old Swiss lost in the quarter-finals of three prior Slams, including this year at the French Open, but became only the third man from his nation to reach a Slam final four, joining Federer and Marc Rosset.

Murray had won eight of 13 prior matches with Wawrinka, but his defeats included a third-round loss at the 2010 US Open.

Murray saved the first five break points of the match in the 10th game of the first set, errant backhands by the Swiss standout helping his cause.

But Murray swatted a forehand long on Wawrinka's sixth break chance to drop the set, smashing his racquet on the court a moment later in frustration.

"That 5-4 game in the first set was important game," Murray said. "I had a chance to close it out. He had quite a few chances. I made a few mistakes."

Murray saved a break point in the second game of the second set and held in the fourth, but after losing the first point of the sixth set he screamed at himself, "I'm serving like a donkey."

After netting a backhand two points later, Murray was down triple break point and Wawrinka broke him at love with a backhand winner, then held at love to 5-2, capping a run of 12 points in a row, and again to claim the second set.

Murray, with seven career comebacks from two sets down, screamed as he sat down after the set, staring at the court, talking to himself and shaking his head as music blared from the stadium loudspeakers.

He double-faulted away a break to hand Wawrinka a 2-1 lead in the third set and the Swiss ripped a forehand winner - his 42nd of the match - past Murray for a break and a 5-2 lead on the way to victory after two hours and 15 minutes.

US Open results on Thursday (x denotes seeded player):

Men's singles

Quarter finals

Novak Djokovic (SRB x1) bt Mikhail Youzhny (RUS x21) 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0
Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI x9) bt Andy Murray (GBR x3) 6-4, 6-3, 6-2

Men's doubles

Semi-finals

Leander Paes/Radek Stepanek (IND/CZE x4) bt Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (USA/USA x1) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Alexander Peya/Bruno Soares (AUT/BRA x2) bt Ivan Dodig/Marcelo Melo (CRO/BRA x10) 7-5, 6-4

Women's doubles

Semi-finals

Ashley Barty/Casey Dellacqua (AUS/AUS x8) bt Sania Mirza/Zheng Jie (IND/CHN x 10) 6-2, 6-2

Quarter-finals

Serena Williams/Venus Williams (USA/USA) bt Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci (ITA/ITA x1) 6-3, 6-1

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should Siya Kolisi keep the captaincy as the Springboks build towards their World Cup title defence in 2027?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Siya will only be 36 at the next World Cup. He can make it!
25% - 1273 votes
No! I think the smart thing to do is start again with a younger skipper ...
29% - 1472 votes
I'd keep Siya captain for now, but look to have someone else for 2027.
45% - 2251 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE