• US Open

Murray crashes out of US Open

Andy Murray crashed out of the US Open after falling in straight sets to an inspired Stanislas Wawrinka in New York.

Wawrinka reached his first ever grand slam semi-final after ruthlessly picking Murray apart 6-4 6-3 6-2 as the defending champion looked completely out of sorts.

Third seed Murray won his first grand slam title at Flushing Meadows last year and his second at Wimbledon this July. But he was outplayed from the beginning on a blustery day in Arthur Ashe Stadium, and suffered his earliest exit from the US Open since 2010.

"I would have liked to have played a little bit better," Murray said after rushing off court and into the interview room to explain the defeat. "I've had a good run the last couple of years. It's a shame I had to play a bad match.

"If I'm meant to win every grand slam I play or be in the final, it's just very, very difficult just now. With the guys around us, it's very challenging.

Andy Murray struggled to find any rhythm throughout the match © Getty Images

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"I thought there was a fair few long points, but I didn't get into enough return games, which is disappointing for me. That's normally something I do pretty well. I always give myself opportunities to break serve, and I didn't."

A cagey first set stayed on serve for nine games before Murray finally blinked. With Murray under pressure to stay in the set, the two players embarked on a titanic struggle. Murray survived five set points for his opponent before eventually succumbing to the sixth, smashing his racket on the court in frustration before mangling it completely after walking over to the sideline.

Murray then avoided going 2-0 down in the second set with a 91mph second serve before holding. But Wawrinka broke for 4-2 before holding his own serve and taking Murray to deuce in the next game to stand on the brink of a two-set lead.

Murray managed to hold but failed to break Wawrinka, who moved one set away from victory. Gesturing over at coach Ivan Lendl, Murray let out a frustrated scream.

Wawrinka was then gifted a break early in the third set, Murray double faulting to hand him a 2-1 lead, before the Swiss duly held. He then struck again to break Murray's serve for 5-2 before taking his first match point.

Elsewhere, Bob and Mike Bryan saw their dreams of winning an historic calendar Grand Slam dashed as Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek saw them off 6-3 3-6 6-4 to reach the men's doubles final. There they will face Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares who won 7-5 6-4 against Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo.

In the women's doubles, Venus and Serena Williams knocked out top seeds and defending champions Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani 6-3 6-1 to move two wins away from their 14th grand slam title.

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