US Open Day 8 - Murray Slays Tsonga To Set Up Djokovic Duel

After cramping on day one Andy Murray described this fortnight’s US Open as a “bonus”.  Seven days on and three impressive wins later the Brit finds himself only three matches away from hitting the ultimate jackpot.



Andy Murray roars into the last eight

Murray admitted that he could have been on the plane home following his narrow first round victory over Robin Hasse, fast-forward a week and the British number one now has a chance to dismantle world number one Novak Djokovic in a quarter final where the Serb has it all to lose.

Murray’s confidence since that opening match wobble has evidently grown as the rounds have progressed, his latest victory over the talented Frenchman Jo-Wilfred Tsonga the most impressive by far.

A straight sets 7-5 7-5 6-4 victory was in some ways the ideal result for Murray against an opponent who beat him in Toronto a few weeks earlier, this time though the Brit progressed to the last eight tested but unharmed .

The first set was arguably the best set of tennis Murray had played since his back surgery last September. He held serve with relative ease while regularly putting pressure on some lengthy Tsonga service games as the Frenchman fended off five break points.

Murray pounced at the perfect moment claiming the first break of the match in the eleventh game. On set point he jumped onto a weak Tsonga second serve with a telling backhand which set up a routine volley into the open court which the Brit dispatched with little fuss.

Tsonga’s ability hadn’t been in doubt and at the start of the second set he showed exactly why, he took advantage of a small lapse from Murray on serve to convert his first break point of the match.

However a feature of this match was the way Murray recovered when he fell behind. At 4-2 down in the set he quickly flicked through the gears to retrieve the break, as Tsonga’s frustration showed signs of boiling over.

For the second time Murray broke his opponent when leading 6-5 and from that point on his path to the last eight appeared to unveil in front of him. However it wasn’t all that simple and another small hiccup allowed Tsonga back in, surely a similar mistake against Djokovic would be less forgiving. 

But on this occasion Murray’s sheer resolve was enough to prevail, at times his retrieving was phenomenal as Tsonga’s menacing serve and huge forehand were regularly neutralised.

Once again Murray broke back after falling behind and when leading 5-4 he struck the decisive blow. Two double faults from Tsonga immediately left the Frenchman on the back foot before Murray seized his opportunity to complete his victory in 2 hours 35 minutes.

Djokovic’s route to the quarter final was equally convincing as he defeated German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-1 7-5 6-4. Elsewhere Kei Nisikori beat Milos Raonic in a five set epic while in the women’s draw top seed Serena Williams beat Kaia Kanepi 6-3 6-3.