Cilic ousts World No 2 with a 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 win to reach quarters
Cilic ousts World No 2 with a 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 win to reach quartersAndy Murray's worst Grand Slam performance of the year sent him crashing out of the US Open and tumbling back to the drawing board in his bid to be the first British men's Grand Slam champion since 1936.
Croatian 16th seed Marin Cilic ousted the second-seeded Scotsman 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 in a fourth-round match yesteray to reach his first Slam quarter-final as Murray went 0-for-7 on break-point chances and made 41 unforced errors.
"I'm very disappointed I didn't win, but I played badly and didn't deserve to," Murray said.
"I started the match well but when I lost the first set and went behind, I started making a lot of silly mistakes.
That was one of the most disappointing things, that I couldn't come back when I'm usually able to find a way back in."
Murray, last year's US Open runner-up in his first Slam final, had reached the Wimbledon semi-finals and French Open quarter-finals but matched his worst Slam result of the year, a fourth-round exit at the Australian Open.
"Compared to the other Slams this year I played bad tennis," Murray said. "I thought I lost to guys playing great tennis to beat me at the other Slams but that wasn't the case today. I just didn't play well."
Cilic claimed his first victory over a top-three opponent in seven attempts by ousting the 22-year-old world number two, who vowed to fight back harder for next year's Slams.
"The way the match went makes it disappointing but I believe I will come back better from it," Murray said. "I will learn from this week like I have most weeks when I've lost and I will come back better and stronger.
"I think I will be a better player next year than this year."
That's saying something after a season in which Murray has jumped past six-time Slam champion Rafael Nadal of Spain for the No. 2 ranking, won 56 matches and five titles and showed strong form.
"It has been a good season, could have been better in the Slams but the rest of the season has gone well," Murray said. "I have to work on my game a lot so when I go into the Slams at the start of next year that I'm ready to win one."
Meanwhile, Juan Martin Del Potro, trying to become the first South American winner of the US Open in 32 years, ousted Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
"I have my confidence in the best moment," Del Potro said. "I've beaten many good players on this surface. I would like to be in the semis or my first final. I have everything to do it."
Results
Men's singles, Fourth Round: Juan Martin Del Potro (6) bt Juan Carlos Ferrero (24) 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, Marin Cilic (16) bt Andy Murray (2) 7-5, 6-2, 6-2,
Doubles, Quarter-finals: Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (1) bt Carsten Ball/Chris Guccione (AUS) 6-4, 7-6 (7/2), Lukas Dlouhy/Leander Paes (4) bt Wesley Moodie/Dick Norman (7) 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, Mahesh Bhupati/Mark Knowles (3) bt Ivan Ljubicic/Michael Llodra 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4),
Mixed doubles, Semi-finals: Cara Black/Leander Paes (2) bt Hsieh Su-Wei/Kevin Ullyett (5) 6-2, 3-6,
10-5
