Wowrinka
Defending champion Andy Murray crashed out of the US Open on Thursday as Stanislas Wawrinka pulled a shocker to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final, a matchup with world number one Novak Djokovic.
Swiss ninth seed Wawrinka stunned the Olympic and Wimbledon champion 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, to book a last-four date with Djokovic, the 2011 winner from Serbia who ousted Russian 21st seed Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0.
“I feel great. I’m really happy. It’s amazing for me to be in my first semi-final in a Slam,” Wawrinka said. “To beat him in three sets the way I was playing is good.”
For only the second time in 146 Grand Slam matches, Murray failed to manage even one break point.
Reaching his seventh US Open semi-final in a row in hopes of a fourth trip in a row to the final, Djokovic lost his first set of the fortnight but reached his 14th consecutive Grand Slam semi-final, the second-longest all-time streak.
Spanish second seed Rafael Nadal, a 12-time Grand Slam champion, and French eighth seed Richard Gasquet, whose only prior last-four Slam run came in 2007 at Wimbledon, will meet in Saturday’s other semi-final.
Wawrinka is only 2-12 versus Djokovic, including fourth-round losses at last year’s US Open and this year’s Australian Open, but reigning Australian Open champion Djokovic says he’ll forget about his 11-match win streak over the Swiss.
Wawrinka, deeper in a Slam for the first time than 17-time major champion compatriot Roger Federer who bowed in the fourth round, used relentless pressure to wear down Murray.
Wawrinka ignored the wind to fire 45 winners, three times Murray’s total.
A grim-faced Murray set a record for hustling to the interview room, arriving before Wawrinka could even leave the court, the 26-year-old Scotsman’s stoic visage a sign of his unhappiness.
Wawrinka, 28, 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 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.
Murray screamed to himself “I’m serving like a donkey” in the sixth game and was broken at love on the way to surrendering Wawrinka 12 points in a row and eventually the set.
Sania, Jie out
Sania Mirza’s US Open campaign ended with a tame semi-final defeat in the women’s doubles with partner Jie Zheng against Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua.
The 10th seeded Indo-Chinese pair, who came into the US Open with New Haven title, lost 2-6, 2-6 in an hour and five minutes to the Australian eight seeds. Sania and Jie struggled to hold their serves as they were broken thrice in both the sets. Sania had bowed out of the mixed doubles with Romanian partner Horia Tecau.
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