September 9, 2011 | By Eric C. Peck
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American John Isner’s run at the 2011 U.S. Open came to an end on Friday afternoon, falling to the number four-seed, Andy Murray from Great Britain, in a four-set match, 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-7(2). Murray advances to play in the semifinals against the winner of Friday’s match between American Andy Roddick, the number 21 seed, and Spain’s Rafael Nadal, the second seed, just 24 hours later on Saturday afternoon at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
This week’s rainy weather at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center wreaked havoc on the scheduled matches, basically wiping out two consecutive days of action and condensing the later rounds into just a few-days span.
The 28th-seeded Isner’s fourth round match against the 12th-seeded Gilles Simon from France took place just 24 hours prior to today’s match, and perhaps was the reason Isner looked slightly tired early on against Murray. Isner did come back to take the third set, 6-3, but it was Murray who prevailed in the end, thus ending Isner’s hopes for a shot at the 2011 U.S. Open championship.
Murray will make his third trip to the semis in Flushing Meadows, and he joins a list of greats who qualified as a semifinalist for all four Grand Slams in a calendar year as he joins the likes of Ivan Lendl, Rod Laver, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and his potential opponent tomorrow, Rafael Nadal in that feat.
Credit all photos to Kenneth B. Goldberg
The number four seeded Andy Murray advanced to the semifinals of the 2011 U.S. Open on Friday afternoon with a 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2) win over American John Isner
John Isner returns a shot against Andy Murray at Arthur Ashe Stadium in his quarterfinals match Friday afternoon
