TENNIS US OPEN:ANDY MURRAY admitted he was comprehensively beaten after exiting the US Open last night at the fourth-round stage. The Scot lost 7-5 6-2 6-2 to Croatia's Marin Cilic and paid for an uninspiring performance at Flushing Meadows in New York.
World number two Murray said afterwards: “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.
“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.
“There were very few long rallies after the first set. Normally I’m able to get myself into rallies, but every time I had a chance he had a big serve or I had a poor return.
“Normally returning is one part of my game – even if the rest is struggling – where I find a way to get back into points.”
Murray was set to be playing for Britain in a Davis Cup tie against Poland from September 18th – but after he finished yesterday’s match complaining of a wrist injury, that may be in doubt.
“I’ll leave it to my doctor and physio to let me know what I should be doing and how much I should be playing and how much time I need to take off,” said the Scot.
“I plan on playing (in the Cup tie) just now. What I do from here, I’ll take a few days off. I’ve been over here in the States six, seven weeks now. I’ll go home and rest, make sure I do all the right things and hope to be okay.”
Cilic reported a sloppy game from Murray towards the end of the first set had helped spur him on to the straight-sets win.
The Croatian said: “I was a little maybe nervous in the beginning. It was my fifth fourth-round in the majors. I think I played well today. I served pretty well. I was maybe a little lucky in some points, but that’s part of the game.
“He gave me a little chance a 5-4 in the first set; he played a little bit of a sloppy game with a couple of unforced errors.
“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.”
Next up for Cilic is a quarter-final clash with in-form Argentinian Juan Martin del Potro, who beat Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3 6-3 6-3 yesterday.
“He’s a great player, playing really well on this surface,” Cilic added.
“He enjoys playing here in the US. It’s not going to be an easy match. I feel confident from this match and I think I have my chance.”
Murray, who recently climbed above Rafael Nadal in the world rankings and was widely tipped to win his first Grand Slam title here, fell apart after failing to take two set points on the Cilic serve at 5-4 in the first set.
He dropped serve at 5-5 and Cilic, the 16th seed, never looked back as he dominated a subdued opponent who never got close to the kind of tennis that took him to the final against Roger Federer 12 months ago.
Earlier the former champion Kim Clijsters booked a place in the women’s singles semi-finals as she continued an astonishing run at her first Grand Slam event in more than two and a half years.
Clijsters, playing on a wild card in just her third tournament since coming out of retirement having become a mother for the first time, breezed past China’s 18th seed Li Na in just 63 minutes, winning 6-2 6-4.
The victory was the 26-year-old Belgian’s 100th career Grand Slam win in her first US Open since winning it in 2005.
Clijsters, who had beaten third seed Venus Williams in three sets in the previous round, also secured her sixth straight semi-final appearance in a Grand Slam having retired in May 2007 following an Australian Open last-four loss to Maria Sharapova the preceding January.
Flushing Meadows
MEN'S SINGLES:Fourth round: (6) Juan Martin Del Potro (Arg) bt (24) Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spa) 6-3 6-3 6-3; (16) Marin Cilic (Cro) bt (2) Andy Murray (Brit) 7-5 6-2 6-2.
WOMEN'S SINGLES:Quarter-final: Kim Clijsters (Bel) bt (18) Na Li (Chn) 6-2 6-4.
MEN'S DOUBLES:Quarter-finals: (1) Bob Bryan (USA) and Mike Bryan (USA) bt Carsten Ball (Aus) and Chris Guccione (Aus) 6-4 7-6 (7-2); (4) Lukas Dlouhy (Cze) and Leander Paes (Ind) bt (7) Wesley Moodie (Rsa) and Dick Norman (Bel) 6-3 5-7 6-4; (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (Ind) and Mark Knowles (Bah) bt Ivan Ljubicic (Cro) and Michael Llodra (Fra) 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-4).
WOMEN'S DOUBLES:Quarter-final: (13) Alisa Kleybanova (Rus) and Ekaterina Makarova (Rus) bt (10) Maria Kirilenko (Rus) and Elena Vesnina (Rus) 6-3 2-6 6-4; (3) Samantha Stosur (Aus) and Rennae Stubbs (Aus) bt (8) Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) and Nadia Petrova (Rus) 6-2 6-3.
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