British hopes fade in New York as Murray and Konta bow out
Originally published on 08/09/15
While Konta’s giantkilling run to the fourth round defied expectations, it is the first time since 2010 that Murray has failed to reach the quarter-finals at a Grand Slam. The 2012 champion fell 7-6(5) 6-3 6-7(2) 7-6(0) in four hours and 18 minutes to Kevin Anderson.
"That's obviously something that is disappointing to lose," said Murray of his streak of reaching 18 successive major quarter-finals. "Many years' work have gone into building that sort of consistency. To lose that is tough."
Trailing by two sets to love, Murray battled back from a break down to win the third set, but the world No.3 was unable to produce another stirring comeback as 25 aces from the No.15 seed helped him reach his first major quarter-final.
“He is an excellent player," Murray said of Anderson. “It came down to a few points here and there. He served extremely well as he normally does, and that was it. I was down two sets and a break and fought unbelievably hard to get myself back into it. I'm proud of the way that I fought right the way through to the end.”
Meanwhile qualifier Konta’s dream run at Flushing Meadows came to an end with defeat to two-time Grand Slam champion Petra Kvitova. Konta had upset No.9 seed Garbine Muguruza and No.18 seed Andrea Petkovic as she reached the fourth round at a major for the first time, but her 16-match winning streak was finally broken as Kvitova triumphed 7-5 6-3.
“I played against an incredibly tough player today,” said Konta. “She doesn't give you much rhythm. She definitely doesn't give you many chances to be able to take control in a point.
“Obviously I'm really happy that I got some rewards for my hard work. But the hard work's not by all means over. You know, I'm not blown away by my performance here. I'm just satisfied that I get a little bit of candy for doing well.
“To be really honest, I'm just really looking forward to heading already to my next tournament. Obviously I need to take a little bit of a break now, just a couple days' rest. But I'm looking forward to the next plane I'm on to head to Asia.”
Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot are left flying the flag for Britain in the men's doubles, with Murray and Australian partner John Peers up against fourth seeds Marcin Matkowski and Nenad Zimonjic in the quarter-finals, while Inglot and Robert Lindtstedt meet Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea.
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