New York, Sept 10: Andy Murray ended marathon man John Isner's best run at a Grand Slam tournament, winning in four sets to reach the semifinals of the U.S. Open on Friday.
The No. 4-seeded Murray dealt with No. 28 Isner's big serve and used a variety of lobs and pinpoint passing shots to win 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2), advancing to his fourth major semifinal this season.
Murray, one of tennis' top returners, weathered 17 aces at up to 140 mph from the 6-foot-9 Isner but repeatedly got back serves topping 130 mph and managed to break the American twice in a row bridging the first two sets.
“It's so frustrating playing against him because you feel like you're playing good tennis, and it's so hard to break him,” Murray said.
While Murray is a three-time Grand Slam runner-up, Isner was playing in his first quarterfinal at a major tournament. Isner is best known for winning the longest match in tennis history, 70-68 in the fifth set in Wimbledon's first round in 2010, when he pounded 113 aces over its record 11 hours, 5 minutes.
In Saturday's semifinals, Murray will face defending champion Rafael Nadal or 2003 champion Andy Roddick, who were to play later Friday.
The other semifinal was set up by Thursday's quarterfinals, and it'll be a big one: No. 1 Novak Djokovic against No. 3 Roger Federer, who's won five of his record 16 Grand Slam championships at the U.S. Open.
Djokovic is 62-2 with nine titles in 2011, including at Wimbledon and the Australian Open. His first loss this season came when Federer ended Djokovic's 43-match winning streak in a thrilling French Open semifinal.
Murray's past Grand Slam final appearances include losses to Djokovic at the Australian Open in January and to Federer at the U.S. Open in 2008. He's seeking to become the first British man since 1936 to win a Grand Slam title.
As it is, Murray is now only the seventh man in the Open era to reach at least the semifinals at all four Grand Slam tournaments in a single season. Three of the others are Federer, Djokovic and Nadal.
Trying to push Murray to a fifth set, Isner got the fourth into a tiebreaker, where his serving is usually a significant advantage. Not this time.
Isner's play was littered with mistakes down the stretch. He double-faulted to trail 2-1, slapped a gimme forehand volley into the net to make it 5-2, put a drop shot into the net for 6-2, then missed a forehand return on match point, ending things after 3 hours, 24 minutes.
“He put a ton of pressure on me,” Murray said. “It was a relief to win that fourth-set ‘breaker.” AP
