US Open flop Andy Murray earns a break

Tagged under: Tennis

Andy Murray will miss the second week of the US Open after a dour defeat against Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round on the Louis Armstrong Stadium at Flushing Meadows last night. The British number one collected his $1million cheque and jets off for an unexpected break after putting up one of his worst performances of the year. In an aggressive display, Wawrinka took a little under four hours to beat the fourth seed 6-7 7-6 6-3 6-3 and book a last sixteen encounter with Sam Querrey. After a topsy-turvy start, Murray was poised to take a two set lead at 7-6 and serving at 5-3 for the second only to succumb to Wawrinka’s ripping returns and eventually lose the set on another tie-break. Warwinka dropped his serve in the first game of the third set before winning the next four games to take command of the set. The Swiss player became hampered by a thigh problem that required an extended medical time out for treatment while an increasingly frustrated Murray received treatment on his thigh, neck and thumb at various stages in a frustrating match. Murray dropped his serve in the first game of the fourth set; he broke back immediately and looked like he may be finding some rhythm until dropping his serve again in the fifth game. Wawrinka had used his backhand throughout to dominate the match and gave himself two match points with an exquisite backhand pass after a chip and lob exchange. Murray relinquished the match when hitting his next return long and wide to leave himself wondering if he will ever win a grand slam. World number one Rafael Nadal’s odds to win the US Open shortened knowing he won’t meet Murray in the semi-final, Bodog are offering odds of 7/4 for Nadal to complete his collection of grand slams with victory next weekend. Nadal plays Feliciano Lopez in the fourth round, Lopez shocked Nadal earlier this summer when winning 7-6 6-4 on the grass court of the AEGON Championship.

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