US Open 2016 Updates: Andy Murray Defeated; Serena Williams Advances
Andy Murray loses from an upsetting match while Willaims regains her form in the middle of the match to secure a win.
Nishikori reigns over Murray
World No. 6 Kei Nishikori defeats No. 2 Andy Murray in a wet match Wednesday. Murray was in complete control of the match and was even ahead of Nishikori 6-1 and 3-3 but as soon as it began to rain, things became out of hand.
The Arthur Ashe Stadium had to close the roof to protect the players and the surface from rain. The match was suspended for a few minutes because of this. The court had to be dried up as well.
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Four games later, Nishikori won the second set. The Briton took the third set. But on the fourth, he lost concentration after a loud noise went off. The game had to be stopped while replays of the unexpected event were asked. Murray argued with the umpire and the official regarding the stoppage of the game, after which he lost one game after another to lose the set. Murray was even affected by an insect flying on the court.
Murray tried to recover from his losses in the fifth set, but he double-faulted and this gave his opponent a break point. He reacted with a stab volley in the open court and then afterwards hit his racket on the net after this point. Nishikori won the next game.
Kei Nishikori will now face World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka who won over Juan Martin del Potro in a match ending after midnight. This is the farthest the Japanese tennis star has reached in any Grand Slam match since he made it to the finals at the US Open in 2014.
Serena Williams advances
Even though Serena Williams broke her serve for the first time and lost her first set, the Women's World No. 1 prevailed 6-2, 4-6, and 6-3. Simona Halep was Williams' first seeded opponent for this US Open.
Things were looking good for Halep during the first part of the match where he saved all break points along with five in a 22-point game serving for the set 5-4. Williams, however, was able to recover at the third game in the third set and maintained her form.
Williams will now face World No. 10 Karolina Pliskova, who won over Ana Konjuh early Wednesday. This is Pliskova's first Grand Slam semifinals. While Williams is one of the best servers in tennis history, even recording the fastest serve in the recent US Open, Pliskova is ranked over Williams when it comes to aces. She even lost only five points on her serve during her game with Konjuh.
