NEW YORK | That upward-pointing arrow defining Andy Murray’s career flattened out dramatically Tuesday.
The British star, who had ascended to a No. 2 ranking, was ousted from the U.S. Open by No. 16 Marin Cilic 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 - a lopsided result as surprising for the score as for the player he lost to.
Cilic overcame two set points in the first set, then pounded Murray in the last two to make his first career Grand Slam quarterfinal. Murray, who lost to Roger Federer in the final at Flushing Meadows last year, will finish 2009 without making a major final.
“Today, I could’ve been better in pretty much every part of my game, whether it was mental, forehand, backhand, return,” said Murray, who conceded that this was the most disappointing loss of his career.
How to explain this setback, coming in a season in which he had been playing so well, against the Croatian he had beaten in their three previous meetings? The right-handed Murray was holding his left wrist and grimacing in pain at the end of the first set. He said the wrist had been bothering him for a week or so.
Beyond that, he simply looked flat.
“Regardless of my wrist, I lost the match,” Murray said. “I returned poorly. He served well, and that was really the difference.”
Murray only got 64 percent of Cilic’s serves back into play, nearly 15 percent below his average this year, which ranks fourth in the world.
Cilic said the set points he saved, serving at 4-5 in the first, was the turning point. He responded by getting ahead 0-40 on Murray’s serve in the next game, won the second break point, then took 13 of the next 17 games for his first career win over an opponent ranked in the top three.
“It was a relief for me to start getting more into the game,” Cilic said, referring to his reaction after saving the set points. “I didn’t have to think too much. I played good, played tactically well, and he was missing.”
Murray had 29 unforced errors, 12 fewer than Cilic, but he hit only 13 winners and never looked comfortable in the match in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Cilic’s next opponent is sixth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro, who defeated No. 24 Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Off on Tuesday, but certainly taking note, was Federer. Gone is the player who, at least the rankings say, was supposed to be the Swiss great’s biggest challenger, the man who last month became the first since early 2006 to break the Federer-Rafael Nadal stranglehold on the top two spots.
Nadal beating No. 13 Gael Monfils 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 in Tuesday night’s last match to get to the quarterfinals.
Nadal-Monfils featured two men often cited as the best athletes on tour, and it was a spirited contest early, filled with long points, terrific retrieving, powerful hitting - and animated celebrations by both. Monfils eventually began to show signs of fatigue, leaning over to gasp for air between points, and Nadal took control.
Nadal will meet No. 11 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile in the semifinals.
On the women’s side, defending champion Serena Williams advanced to the semifinals, setting up a showdown against Kim Clijsters. The second-seeded Williams beat No. 10 Flavia Pennetta of Italy 6-4, 6-3 to improve to 23-1 in Grand Slam singles matches this season.
Clijsters advanced to the semifinals with a 6-2, 6-4 romp over No. 18 Li Na. She is the first unseeded player to reach the Open semifinals since Elena Dementieva in 2000.
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