Andy Murray

Andy Murray cruised into his first ever US Open quarter final with a surprisingly straightforward straight sets win over Stanislas Wawrinka only dropping 7 games on route to a 6-1 6-3 6-3 victory.

Murray and Wawrinka had already met 4 times on the ATP tennis circuit this year and each of those matches were close encounters with 3 of them going the distance - This match however was not close, Murray dominated from the first game breaking the Swiss number 2’s serve in the opening game. The match was so one sided at one point that the US crowd started a Mexican wave half through a game.

It was labour day in the US and the crowd were perhaps expecting a little bit more of a match after seeing Venus Williams steamroll her opponent, seeing Andy Murray dominate Wawrinka was not what the holiday atmosphere crowd wanted. Wawrinka did not play that badly, he just was not at his best and Andy Murray was .

It took until the 5th game of that opening set before Wawrinka got his name on the scoreboard after 2 breaks of serve by Murray, he broke a third time to take the set 6-1.

The second set started off a little more competitively though Murray still had chances to break immediately, the score moved on to 3-3 and with Murray serving Wawrinka’s game was raised and moved into a 15-40 lead. This however was no start of a comeback for the Swiss ace, Murray quickly extinguished any chance Wawrinka had with some powerful service winners and then the Scot went on to break in the next game and serve out the Set.

Wawrinka came back from two sets down on Saturday against an Italian qualifier, though when he looked across the net tonight he saw a soon to be top 5 player in the world, this win tonight securing Murray’s place in the elite top 5, Wawrinka knew he was beat.

Murray wasted no time in the third, securing a break of serve in the third game to lead 2-1, Wawrinka rarely troubled on any Murrays service games and even when Murray began to take his foot of pedal he was never punished by Wawrinka. Murray completed the match unbroken on his own serve and finished of the match with his sixth break of serve.

Andy Murray will now face Argentina’s Juan Martín del Potro in the quarter finals on Wednesday with Rafael Nadal and Marty Fish meeting in the other Quarter final in this half of the draw.

Andy Murray will continue his US Open campaign against the second best Swiss player in the world Stanislas Wawrinka in the fourth round later tonight(1st September), the Match will take place in the evening session and is second on the Arthur Ashe court (approx 1am-2am Tuesday morning in the UK)

Second best Swiss player in the world may not sound that imposing, but don’t forget that the number 1 Swiss player is Roger Federer and the young Swiss star has emerged this year from the former number 1’s shadow to establish himself as top 10 player.

Wawrinka is currently ranked 10th in the world and is also seeded 10th here at the 2008 US Open. Despite is great form this year the Swiss star has never won a singles title, he has reached two finals this year including the Rome masters event back in May losing to Novak Djokovic narrowly 6-4 3-6 3-6.

Andy Murray and Stanislas Wawrinka are reportedly good friends off court and it seems these two’s careers are quite intertwined this year, they have met 4 times this year and 6 times in total. The record is 3 wins a piece though Murray holds the advantage of winning 3 of their 4 matches this year.

In the two events that Wawrinka’s has made the final he has met Andy Murray, he beat the Scotsman 6-2 7-6(7-5) on route to the masters final in Rome on clay in May. The pair had first met this year on the hard courts of the Doha final at the beginning of the year and this time it was Murray who was the victor 6-4 4-6 6-2. Their next encounter was again on hard courts, this time in Marseille in February, Murray again was the winner another close 3 setter 3-6 7-6(5) 6-1 - Murray went on to win that event in Marseille beating Mario Ancic in the final.

Their most recent match was just a few weeks ago in the Rogers Cup, a masters series event played on hard courts again in Toronto and the Scot would make it 3 wins out of 4 for the year - A slightly strange match were Wawrinka had some ankle issues in the first set, the final match score 6-2 0-6 6-4.

With Murray’s record over Wawrinka on hard courts this season, it’s no surprise that he is the favourite to take victory later on tonight. The Odds you will get of Murray winning against Wawrinka are roughly 2/5 and 7/4 on Wawrinka beating Murray, though you will find better on odds on both counts at betfair and you can still get your free £25 when you sign up.

Jamie Murray and Liezel Huber came through comfortably in their second round mixed doubles match beating Czech duo Kveta Peschke and Pavel Vizner 7-5 6-3 in 1 hour and 19 minutes.

The American and Brit Duo took control from the off and quickly established a 4-1 lead, they looked like they were going to a double break when the secured another break point, but instead their Czech opponents saved the point and broke back back to level the match up at 5-5.

Murray and Huber finished the set strongly with a flourish and a run of 4 games soon saw them secure the first set and go up 2-0 in the second with a break of serve.

It was a lead that they would not give up and they served out for victory and thier place in the quarter finals where they will play either Virginie Razzano and Rogier Wassen or the second seeds Katarina Srebotnik and Nenad Zimonjic.

Murray and Huber have proved a successful partnership and reached the semi-finals in New York 12 months ago and the semi finals of Wimbledon last month.

Andy Murray proved once again that he is indeed one of the fittest and toughest opponents to beat as he once again came from two sets down to win a dramatic US open third round match against Austrian Jurgen Melzer 6-7(5-7) 4-6 7-6(7-5) 6-1 6-3.

But how this match made it to 5 sets I will never know, Murray was much the better player in both the first and second sets and just could not finish off his numerous chances and when it came down to the big points in those two sets it was Melzer who raised his game and produced the tennis of his life.

He took the first set to a tie break after saving a set point at 6-5, before the breaker Melzer had made no impression on the Murray serve and these things go, Murray serve broke down in the tie break and Melzer found his return game.

The second followed much same pattern of the first, with Murray pushing Melzer all the way on the Austrian’s service only to squander break point after break point - these points were not lost by Murray, but won by Melzer, the Austrian showing us some terrific shots, in particular his two handed backhand drop shot, that Murray was finding difficult to read and when he did make it to the ball chose the wrong the shot and Melzer was there for the easy follow up. Those misses would prove costly and Melzer took advantage breaking Murray in the 10th game of the set to take the set and a commanding lead.

Murray had not played badly and at this stage would have still been favourite in many people’s books to still go on and actually win the match - and go on win the match he did - though not without further drama.

Murray secured his first break of serve mid way through the third set only to be pegged back when he was serving for the set at 5-4. It would take another tiebreak to decide the third set.

Murray was quick on the assault and secured mini break only to lose them straight back to Melzer. Murray found himself 4-5 down and Melzer was just two points away from the match. In many of these types of matches we look for turning points and this next two points definitely was it. With Murray serving he really needed to win his next two service points, which so far in the tie break he had not managed to do. He won the first point with a big service winner and the with next point fired down a 138mph ace that equalled his fastest ever serve.

That ace served as a huge blow for Melzer and seem to just knock the wind out him, Murray converted the next point on the Melzer serve after he managed to read Melzer’s drop shot and put the return away for a clean winner.

The fourth set was a contest only for the first two games, after Murray secured a break of serve in the second game, Melzer gave up, conserving his energy for fifth. As the match progressed it was becoming more and more obvious that Melzer was struggling for fitness and needed the trainer on court to tend some cramp in his legs.

The massage from the trainer seemed to help Melzer and the Austrian was still up for the scrap at the start of second. Murray still looked dangerous on the Melzer’s serve and brought up deuce on the third game, but Melzer would hold out to lead 2-1.

After the huge comeback from Murray, there was always the chance he could come off the pace in the third and that’s what happened in the third game. After two outstanding drop shots from Melzer, the Austrian found himself 15-40 with two break points and was a whisker away from converting the first, after blistering return of serve, Murray struggled just to return the ball and with what seemed an easy backhand approach, Melzer dumped the ball in the net. That was Melzer’s chance, another huge serve Murray save the other and then another ace secures the game.

They both traded two more service games before Murray secured the vital break in the crucial seventh game with a mix of aggression and simple keep the ball in play, keep the ball long and wait for your chance.

That was indeed the match over - Melzer saved two match points on his own serve before Murray secured the match on the third.

It was another breathtaking win, not quite on par with Gasquet at Wimbledon, but close to it, after the match Murray said

He was playing awesome, hitting the ball so hard and flat, It was so tough for me to get a rhythm, but I felt after the third set, the momentum was with me. My fitness is something I’ve worked so hard on. I’ve got a great team with me and I’m really enjoying working with them. Ideally, you’d rather not play matches of that length, but sometimes it happens. You’ve got to get through it.

This will be Murray’s second time in the 4th round of the US open and will play Stanislas Wawrinka who himself had to fight back from two sets down against lucky loser (lost in qualifying but made it through due to someone dropping out the main draw) Flavio Cipolla. Though how Wawrinka nearly lost this match his a mystery, from the action I seen of the match Cipolla had nothing to offer and it was only unforced errors from Wawrinka that got the little Italian any points.

On the downside for Murray, his odds of winning the US open perhaps have been dented, after expending so much energy early on in the tournament. He and Ross Hutchins lost an epic doubles match against the number 1 doubles team in the world on a third set tiebreak. Murray has now played 18 sets of tennis compared with 9 sets played by Rafael Nadal.

I don’t think this will hamper Murray but the bookmakers don’t share my view, his odds have increased from before he started the event and they had even dipped after his first two wins. So if you think Murray is still going to win, now may be your best time to place your bet. betfair are still the highest odds you will find and will give you a free £25 to wager when you sign up.

Murray came through a tough four setter against Michael Llodra defeating the Frenchman 6-4, 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(7) to reach the US Open third round for the third time in four attempts.

The man from Dunblane produced some impressive stats against the resistant Llodra, firing 48 winners to just 13 unforced errors. But the stats do not always tell the story, as error-free as his play was the Scot played the match at a very average level and it was his ability top raise his game on vital points that allowed him to pick up the win. He did drop serve on four occasions and was forced to save two set points in the fourth set tie break before securing victory after 2 hours and 33 minutes.

I was very happy with the match, I thought I hit the ball from the back of the court very well. I didn’t feel like I was making many mistakes from the baseline. Not too many unforced errors. He’s a really tough guy to play against, and I was happy I won in four sets.

Andy Murray is making his fourth straight appearance at the US Open and enjoyed his best performance in 2006 when he reached the fourth round losing to the sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko 1-6 7-5 3-6 0-6.

Murray now himself the sixth seed will be looking to once again reach the fourth round on Saturday when he meets Austrian Jurgen Melzer who thrashed Jiri Vanek 6-0, 6-2, 6-2. Meltzer is ranked 48 in the world and Murray won their only other meeting in earlier this year. On Meltzer, Murray said,

He’s a tough guy to play against, He doesn’t give you too much rhythm. But I feel like I’m playing well just now. I’m confident and I look forward to the match.