BRITISH No.1 Andy Murray hailed his victory over Stanislas Wawrinka at the US Open last night as the best performance of his grand slam career as he marched into quarter-finals in emphatic style.
Sixth seed Murray crushed Swiss tenth seed Wawrinka 6-1, 6-3 6-3 in front of more than 23,000 fans on his debut at Arthur Ashe Stadium to reach the last eight of the final grand slam of the year for the first time.
His one hour 49 minute display
sets up a quarter-final against in-form Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina, who last night beat Japan's Kei Nishikori in straight sets, at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre tomorrow.
"It was great. For the first match I played on that court, I've been looking forward to that for a long, long time and to play like that made it pretty special," said Murray, who committed just 15 unforced errors.
"I think in terms of the way that I played throughout the whole match, I didn't lose my concentration at all, which is tough in five-set matches.
"I've beaten better players than Stan but that level of performance throughout the whole match was probably my best one of all the slams I've played."
The win also handed Murray, a three-time winner in 2008, an elevation to at least world number five following David Ferrer's third round exit at the weekend, while the Scot will climb to number four should he outlast fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko in New York.
"I've watched so many matches on the TV there that I kind of knew what to expect," he said of Ashe Stadium, which is the biggest tennis stadium in the world.
"I've watched a few matches from the stands but it's such a huge stadium, the noise, there's such a buzz during the points and it's a little bit different to anywhere I've ever played before but I loved every minute of it.
"When you're 18 or 19 years old and you play on a court like that I think you feel like you want to do something extra special but now you've just got to get the job done and try and win three sets as quickly as possible. You don't want those matches going on any longer than they need to."
And Murray certainly did not waste any time wrapping up the win after breaking Wawrinka in the second game of the match to get off to a perfect start from which his rival was not allowed to recover.
"I felt like I was hitting the ball well," he said, having allowed Wawrinka just three break point opportunities.
"When you play against someone as good as Stan, a top 10 player, they're always going to raise their level a bit. There's going to be situations where you have to sort of fight your way through.
"I think when I was a couple of break points down in the second set those are the sort of moments you have to come through and I did that really well.
"But in those types of situations, on courts as big as that, the start of the match is so important. I warmed up really well beforehand and wanted to try and set the tone for the match. I did that really well by breaking in the first game."
Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal looked far from invincible as the top seed survived a serious challenge from Sam Querrey to advance to the quarter-finals.
Nadal took over three hours to dispose of the 20-year-old American 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 to move one step closer to another possible showdown with second seed Roger Federer.
"It was very difficult, especially after my big mistake in the second set," the Spaniard said.
"I was playing normal, fine – nothing special, but nothing bad." Nadal, who has won 42 of his last 43 matches and eight titles this year to take away the world's top ranking from Federer, appeared to be heading for an easy win after building a 4-2 lead with a break in the second set but Querrey broke twice to even the match.
Perhaps sensing the urgency, Nadal raised his game in the third-set tiebreaker, playing more aggressively and attacking the net. After winning the set, he pumped the air with his fist.
"When you are not playing your best, the important thing is to win," he said. "I did, so I have a chance to play another time on Wednesday."
Querrey, one of three Americans to advance to the fourth round, upset 14th seed Ivo Karlovic to make the round of 16 at the US Open for the first time.
Nadal, who is seeking his third Grand Slam of the year, will face Mardy Fish in the last eight after the American continued his surprising run at Flushing Meadows with a 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 rout of 32nd seed Gael Monfils.
Prior to this year, Fish had never advanced past the second round at the US Open and his only other quarter-final in a Grand Slam came last year at the Australian Open.
But the Florida native was playing well prior to the tournament, reaching the final in New Haven and beating Federer earlier this year at Indians Wells.
"I've always wanted to play well here," said Fish, who beat ninth seed and close friend James Blake in straight sets in the third round on Saturday.
"I felt like I came here every time and lost in the second round. I'm glad to be moving on."
Fish, who will have Blake in his wedding party when he gets married on September 28, was pushed in a hard-fought opening set. Monfils broke to go up 4-3, but Fish broke back, then closed out the set on his third set point.
"I knew I had to be aggressive," Fish said. "He runs down a lot of balls. He moves extremely well. I tried to keep the points short."
Monfils seemed to lose focus, winning only two of the first 14 points in the second set as Fish jumped out to a 3-0 lead. After the third game, Monfils took an injury timeout to get his right knee taped.
Fish, however, was in complete control and closed out the match in just under two hours.
JAMIE MURRAY and Liezel Huber reached the US Open mixed doubles semi-finals when they edged past second seeds Katarina Srebotnik and Nenad Zimonjic in New York.
Playing at the same time as his brother Andy was beginning his straight sets victory against Wawrinka on Arthur Ashe Stadium, Murray and American Huber needed a match tie-break to win their closely-fought quarter-final on court 13 at the Billie Jean National Tennis Centre.
Unseeded Murray and Huber beat Slovenia's Srebotnik and Serbia's Zimonjic 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (9-11), 11-9 and will now face wild cards Jill Craybas and Eric Butorac – Murray's former men's doubles partner – in the last four.
It is the second year in a row Murray and Huber have reached the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows.
The full article contains 1218 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
