• US Open - Men's Draw

Murray defeated in back-and-forth tussle with Wawrinka

Andy Murray's quest for a first Grand Slam continues © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: Murray targets heavyweight coach
  
• News: Murray looks to bounce back
  
• What the Deuce: Murray's mysterious meltdown
  
• News: Weary Murray seeks answers after defeat
  
• Profile: Andy Murray

Follow the entire US Open via ESPN's live scorecentre.

Andy Murray was sent crashing out of the US Open at the third-round stage by Stanislas Wawrinka after a back-and-forth match that ended with both players struggling to cope with injury.

World No. 4 Murray looked on course to sail into a fourth-round meeting with Sam Querrey when he was a set-and-a-break up in the second, but fatigue and a fiercely determined opponent saw him slump to a 6-7 7-6 6-3 6-3 defeat.

It is a bitterly disappointing loss for Murray, who seemed to be peaking at just the right time at the year's final Grand Slam. The Scot claimed his first title of the year, the Rogers Cup, ahead of the US Open - and then he brushed aside his first two opponents at the tournament with the minimum of fuss.

But Wawrinka, the Swiss player who has for so long lived in the shadow of Roger Federer, was a significant step up in quality from Lukas Lacko and Dustin Brown. Murray had lost three of their eight meetings, which was enough to warn him of his opponent's danger.

If he hadn't got that message before the start of the match, he certainly did during the first set. Murray wasn't playing badly, but he was still unable to cope with Wawrinka, who raced into a 5-2 lead with some faultless shotmaking.

Just as it seemed Murray would have to write off the first set and look to regroup for the second, he launched a fightback that saw him take three successive games on his way to forcing a tiebreak that he eventually won.

Murray carried the momentum forward into the second set by haring into a 3-0 lead with a devastating range of groundstrokes that wore Wawrinka down. But the 25th seed still had some fight left in him - and, with Murray noticeably beginning to look impaired in his movement, he clawed back the deficit to force, and win, another tiebreak.

The pattern of the match continued in the third, as one player - this time Wawrinka - built up a commanding lead. At 4-1 down, Murray required treatment from the trainer at the change of ends - three points later, Wawrinka also required medical assistance.

It became a battle of the walking wounded, with neither able to summon the strength to take advantage of the other player's problems. It was Wawrinka who was able to find the greater mental courage and close out the third and fourth sets, as Murray let his concentration lapse as he grew frustrated with his inability to overcome his opponent.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.