Doubles defeat for Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares at US Open

Jamie Murray's reign as US Open doubles champion came to an abrupt and sobering end as he and Bruno Soares were flattened 6-1, 6-2 by Horia Tecau, of Romania, and Jean-Julien Rojer from the Netherlands, writes Alix Ramsay.

Jamie Murray speaks to partner Bruno Soares during their fourth round match against Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands and Horia Tecau of Romania. Picture: Al Bello/Getty Images

The defending champions took 27 minutes to get on the scoreboard – and by that time Tecau and Rojer were already 5-0 to the good. It proved too big a lead for Murray and Soares to claw back and, even if they had made more of a fight of it in the second set, they were always playing catch-up against confident rivals.

Played on a rare day of sunshine and humidity at this year’s Open, the game plan of Murray and Soares looked to have frazzled in the heat while their opponents loved every second of the 62-minute pasting they handed out to the No 4 seeds.

Now through to the last four without dropping a set, Tecau and Rojer face Henri Kontinen and 
Murray’s former partner, John Peers, for a place in the final.

l Pablo Carreno Busta defeated Diego Schwartzman at the US Open to reach his first grand slam singles semi-final. The 12th-seeded Spaniard, the highest-ranked player left in 
the bottom half of the draw, won 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.