US Open gallery: men’s draw, day 9
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Andy Murray admitted Marin Cilic was just too good on the day after crashing to a shock 7-5 6-2 6-2 fourth round defeat.
Few had envisaged any such problems for the world No.2 against an opponent he had beaten three times without reply in the senior ranks, but the Croatian dominated the encounter from the late stages of the first set.
After saving two set points before snapping up the first, Cilic was superior in every department for the next two sets – outserving and out-hitting Murray, who looked incapable of responding.
“Today, I could’ve been better in pretty much every part of my game, whether it was mental, forehand, backhand, return,” said Murray, who agreed with journalists that this was indeed the most disappointing loss of his career.
The Scot frequently held his left wrist from the end of the first set, but although he admitted that tendinitis has been bothering him for the past week, Murray was adamant that it played little part in the result.
“Regardless of my wrist, I lost the match,” Murray said. “I returned poorly. He served well and that was really the difference.”
“I was a little bit low on energy. It’s not an excuse but it’s not good to feel that way in a grand slam,” he added. “I couldn’t get enough returns when the game started to get away from me, or find a way to get back into the match.
“A lot of times when I lose I get asked if I was flat, because I looked it – but that wasn’t the case. Today he was dominating a lot of the points, so it was difficult to get into the match.”
Next up for Cilic is a quarter-final clash with fellow 6’6” star Juan Martin del Potro, who beat Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3 6-3 6-3 on Louis Armstrong Stadium.
“He gave me a little chance a 5-5 in the first set; he played a little bit of a sloppy game with a couple of unforced errors,” Cilic said of Murray. “He gave me the chance to serve out the set with the wind. After that I played very well, really consistently and didn’t let anything bother me.”
Defeat for Murray was made twice as galling by the news that Rafael Nadal will now leapfrog him in the rankings next week after beating Gael Monfils 6-7(3) 6-3 6-1 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals.
The No.3 seed, touted as an unlikely candidate to complete his career grand slam with victory in New York this year after missing most of the summer through injury, moved well against Monfils, covering the court during their many extended exchanges.
The Spaniard showed no real signs of problems from either the sore knees that forced him to withdraw from of Wimbledon or the abdominal strain that arose during his last match.
There was one new scare for Nadal, or at least for the US Open security personnel, when a specator ran onto the court after the match and kissed the Spaniard.
Nadal remained unfazed, and even showed his surprise when the man was bundled out of the stadium by security guards. “For me it wasn’t a problem,” he said. “The guy was really nice. He was a great fan. He said, I love you, and he kissed me.”
Nadal now faces No.11 seed Fernando Gonzalez in the last eight, after the Chilean beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3-6 6-3 7-6(3) 6-4 to reach his first US Open quarter-final since 2002.
But the former Australian Open finalist is intent on going further. “I’m only focused on the next one,” Gonzalez said. “I have to play some good tennis and keep my focus.”
