Tomas Berdych overcomes Britain’s talisman Andy Murray.
Andy Murray lost in the quarter-final of the Cincinnati Masters to Tomas Berdych 6-3 6-4.
The Czech man put in a powerful performance to see off this year’s Wimbledon champion. The world number six will now face Rafael Nadal in the semi-final, after the Spaniard overcome Roger Federer. Federer has dropoed to seventh in the world, his lowest ranking since 2002.
This was Murray’s final match before the 2013 US open, where he will be the defending champion after his maiden major victory in Flushing Meadows last year.
This is the second time this year Berdych has defeated the current world number two, after winning in straight sets earlier this year during the Madrid open on clay.
Murray admitted after the match that he struggled for consistency and made too many errors. The Scotsman sent down ten aces in the match compared to Berdych’s two, but he struggled to dictate play and couldn’t convert any of his four break-point opportunities.
The other semi-final sees John Isner against Juan Martin Del Potro, after Isner overcame Serbian world number one Novak Djokovic, and Del Potro defeated Russia’s Dimitri Tursunov.
The US open begins later this month.
COMMENTS