NEW YORK (AP) — Andy Murray watched a 130 mph ace zoom by to create a two-set deficit at the U.S. Open, and then sat in his changeover chair and cursed at himself, over and over and over.
A little later, Murray cracked his racket against the court once, breaking the frame, and went to the sideline and mangled his equipment even more, before meandering over to hand it to someone in the stands.
Often able to spur himself by letting out some anger, the two-time Grand Slam title winner only briefly managed to get into this match. The third-seeded Murray lost before the quarterfinals at a major for the first time since 2010, beaten 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (0) by 15th-seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows on Monday.
“That’s obviously something that is disappointing to lose because of that,” Murray said of having his streak of 18 straight major quarterfinals snapped. “Obviously that’s many years’ work that’s gone into building that sort of consistency. To lose that is tough.
“Also to lose a match like that that was over four hours, tough obviously after a couple of tough matches earlier in the tournament, as well, it’s a hard one to lose, for sure.”
For the 6-foot-8 Anderson, known mainly for a booming serve but terrific off the ground in this 4-hour, 18-minute victory, it marked a real breakthrough: He entered with an 0-7 record in fourth-round matches at majors, including when he had a two-set lead against Novak Djokovic before losing at Wimbledon two months ago.
This time, Anderson held it together, with the help of 25 aces and 81 total winners.
”I’m a little lost for words right now,” the 29-year-old Anderson said. ”I just managed to keep my composure throughout.”
Murray, meanwhile, heads home much earlier than usual.
He had reached at least the quarters at his previous 18 Grand Slam tournaments, a streak that included championships at the U.S. Open in 2012 and Wimbledon in 2013, along with four runner-up finishes.
Adept at comebacks – in the second round, he recorded his eighth victory in a match after dropping the opening two sets – Murray did push Anderson to a fourth set, but that was the extent of the rally this time.
While Murray continued trying to rile up himself – and the crowd – as the fourth set carried on, even reaching over to slap the extended palm of a front-row spectator, Anderson limited his signs of emotion to one uppercut after winning one point by tracking down a lob and conjuring up a sky-hook winner from the baseline.
And he was perfect at the end, hitting one ace at 135 mph, another at 138 mph, while Murray couldn’t get his strokes to land where he wanted them to.
”I wish,” Anderson said, ”I could play every tiebreak like that.”
In Anderson’s first major quarterfinal, he will face yet another two-time major champion, Stan Wawrinka, who eliminated 68th-ranked American Donald Young 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Another quarterfinal matchup was to be determined later Monday, when No. 2 Roger Federer faced No. 13 John Isner, the last American man in the tournament, while No. 6 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic met No. 12 Richard Gasquet of France. Berdych and Gasquet were scheduled to play each other in Louis Armstrong Stadium after Murray vs. Anderson finished, so they were not able to get on court until after 9 p.m.
Two women’s quarterfinals will be No. 2 Simona Halep of Romania against No. 20 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, and No. 5 Petra Kvitova against No. 26 Flavia Pennetta of Italy.
Azarenka has won two Australian Open titles and twice was the runner-up at the U.S. Open. Kvitova has won Wimbledon twice. Halep was the runner-up at last year’s French Open. And Pennetta? Well, she is into her sixth U.S. Open quarterfinal in the last seven years.
Pennetta was a 6-4, 6-4 winner against 2011 champion Sam Stosur, the last woman to beat Serena Williams at Flushing Meadows. Kvitova moved into her first quarterfinal in New York, a place she freely admits is too noisy and busy for her liking, by defeating British qualifier Johanna Konta 7-5, 6-3.
Azarenka eliminated 46th-ranked American Varvara Lepchenko 6-3, 6-4 while wearing gauze wrapped around both biceps. Why? Calling the reason ”so weird” and ”really a little bit embarrassing,” Azarenka said the skin on the inside of both arms was bothered by rubbing against her top.
Halep overcame a left thigh problem that caused her to limp around at times in the last set of her 6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-2 victory over 24th-seeded Sabine Lisicki of Germany. Lisicki, who reached the final at Wimbledon in 2013, ceded 72 points via unforced errors and was broken 10 times.
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