Stanislas Wawrinka upheld Swiss pride in the absence of compatriot Roger Federer as he ended the title defence hopes of Andy Murray 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 to reach a US Open semi-final with top seed Novak Djokovic on Thursday.
The hard-hitting Wawrinka never faced a break point as he denied Wimbledon winner Murray the chance to keep up the chase for a third grand slam title, winning easily in just over two hours. Federer, a five-time champion, was eliminated in the fourth round by Tommy Robredo.
Djokovic lost his first set of the tournament but came back strong in the fourth to beat Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0. The Serb is 111-1 when he wins the first two sets at major.
“The windy conditions were the same for both me and Mikhail,” said Djokovic, winner of six grand slam titles. “He’s a fighter and a quality player with a tricky game.
“I played well except for the third set. But credit to him for fighting back.”
Djokovic has won his last 11 matches with Wawrinka, dating to 2007. He claimed a classic over the Swiss in the Australian Open fourth round in January, a battling performance which Wawrinka said marked a turning point in his season and gave him a dose of self-belief.
“It will be a very close match for both of us,” Djokovic said of his Saturday meeting with the ninth seed Swiss. “Stan showed why he deserves to be in the top 10.
“He played one of his best matches on hardcourt against Murray.
But I’m feeling good on the court and hope to continue in the same way.” Murray angrily smashed a racquet after dropping the first set on Wawrinka’s sixth set point and frequently screamed at himself in moments of stress as he went down to defeat.
The world number three Scot has performed only minimally after breaking a drought of more than three-quarters of a century to become the first British man to win Wimbledon since 1936 in July.
“It’s amazing for me to be in the first semi-final in a grand slam, especially after beating the defending champion who just won Wimbledon. He’s a great champion,” said Wawrinka, who claimed his seventh win of the season over a top-10 opponent.
“To beat him in three sets the way I was playing today is quite good for me. I’m proud of how I was dealing with the pressure.
Normally I can be a little bit nervous, and I can lose a few games because of that, but today I was just focused on my game.” Wawrinka had lost his three previous quarter-finals in the majors.
But he showed solid top-10 credentials as he defeated Murray in New York after beating the Scot in 2010.
Wawrinka finished his demolition in just over two hours as Murray returned a serve into the net, his 30th unforced error of a depressing afternoon.
“To beat him in three sets the way I was playing today is quite good for me. I’m proud of how I was dealing with the pressure,” said the Swiss. “Normally I can be a little bit nervous, and I can lose a few games because of that, but today I was just focused on my game.” Murray said he was beaten by a better player on the day.
“I don’t think I was playing poorly. I got to the quarter-finals of a slam, which isn’t easy. I would have liked to have played a little bit better, but I have had a good run the last couple of years.
“It’s a shame I had to play a bad match today. He hit big shots. He passed extremely well. He hit a lot of lines on big points. He served well — that was it. He played a great match.”