“I felt like an elephant just trying to move. Even two steps was terrible,” recalled Clijsters about her first experience with a racket following the birth of her daughter Jada.
On Monday, it was the usually fleet-footed Murray who lumbered around court.
Carrying a left wrist injury which hindered his two-handed backhand, Murray went into meltdown after failing to take two set points on the Cilic serve at 5-4 in the opening frame.
‘AAARGH’
With Murray emitting a series of anguished cries of “aaargh” and “ayeeeeeee” every time he missed a shot, those walking on the National Tennis Center grounds might have thought Arthur Ashe Stadium had temporarily been turned into an ER.
Murray could have done with some medical attention but instead dropped serve at 5-5 and from then on the 16th seeded Cilic surrendered only four more games.
“I’m disappointed. I don’t know how long or how quickly it will take me to get over it,” a glum Murray said.
The Scot’s day ended in more heartache as Nadal’s victory over Monfils ensured he would lose the No. 2 ranking.
Nadal will next face 11th seed Fernando Gonzalez. The Chilean completed a bad day for the French when he beat seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-4 in a lively showdown.
In the semi-finals of the mixed doubles No. 2 seeds Cara Black of Zimbabwe and Leander Paes of India defeated Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Kevin Ullyett of Zimbabwe in a see-saw semi-final.
Black and Paes won the first set 6-3 before the Kaohsiung-born Hsieh and Ullyett bounced back to take the second by the same score.
The decisive match tiebreak finished 10-5 to the No. 2 seeds who will face Carly Gullickson and Travis Parrott in the final.
The unseeded American duo pulled off a shock 6-3, 6-4 defeat of No. 1 seeds Liezel Huber of the US and Mahesh Bhupathi of India.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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