Murray crashes out of US Open

The 28-year-old Swiss, for so long considered a very good opponent but not a candidate for the major titles - he is in his first semi-final in a grand slam event - hit Murray off the court to win 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in two hours 15 minutes. It was not quite the humiliation Roger Federer suffered when going out in three sets in the third round to Tommy Robredo but neither was it much of a contest. Wawrinka won handsomely.
"Amazing," is how he described it, "especially here. He's the defending champion, a tough opponent. It was just crazy. First set was not really really easy, very windy, and I was trying to be little bit relaxed but it gave me confidence for the rest of the match. Many things were going through my head at the end, I was nervous for sure. I just stayed aggressive and did not want to let him back into the match."
In truth Murray was in the match only for periods in the first set. The second passed him in a blur and the third was a capitulation. If he had moved as fast on court as he did towards a perfunctory post-match press conference, he might have given Wawrinka a better argument.
This was worse even than the defeat Wawrinka inflicted on him in the third round three years ago. That was a match in which both players suffered physically and Murray spiritually. Memories of that awful day must have returned to haunt him here as he looked across at his on-fire opponent, a friend with whom he has practised and played competitively many times.
Murray's world has for now been flipped upside down after his Wimbledon triumph at the height of Britain's glorious sporting summer, although he insisted there was no emotional crash.
He said he would take a few days off, then head for Umag to help Great Britain in their Davis Cup tie against Croatia. He was shocked but not devastated. Nor, he said, was he injured.
While Murray did not seem at his best during the early matches here, neither did he look to be hurtling towards ignominy. There was something missing, yet he said he was sure he could gather his resources when it mattered and there was no reason to doubt him. He had, after all, learned how to win in adversity.
A year ago Sir Sean Connery swept into the press room at Flushing Meadows, accompanied by his fellow knight and Scot, Sir Alex Ferguson, to celebrate Murray's march towards the final - and, ultimately, the title - declaring on a day of shot-killing gusts on the Arthur Ashe Stadium, "Scotland invented wind!"
How their young compatriot must have wished Scotland could have uninvented the cursed stuff on Thursday, as he saw his title blown from his unsteady grasp. Beforehand he had spoken of his method of hitting flat through the tricky, oncoming breeze here but it was Wawrinka who repeatedly found the power and the precision to exploit the conditions, leaving Murray stranded, The Gurdian reports.
His crisp, thunderbolt groundstrokes kept Murray pinned to the back of the court and, when he could, he marched forward with chest out, racket poised.
Murray had no answer to such outright aggression and pushed his passing shots wide and long, handing Wawrinka one easy point after another. As Murray's serve deteriorated, all the Swiss had to do was hold his nerve and the points mounted for him.
The third set did bring out Murray's stubborn streak, as he sought to limit the damage with the sort of risk-free defensive tennis that once was his biggest weapon, but a double fault in the third game turned it again. From there he lost 12 points in a row and the match was all but gone. There would be no grand fightback now.
At 3-1 up Wawrinka had dropped just a single point in the set on his serve and looked utterly serene. Bolstered by a two-set lead and a break, he continued to slap that big right hand through Murray's second serve but the world No3 held.
In the break Murray asked the umpire, "When are the new balls?" This was desperate stuff, as he searched for the smallest sign of help. He bounced from his chair as would an anxious boxer trailing on points and needing a knockout.
It was the Swiss who jabbed, hooked and teased, though. Serving for the match - with the new balls that Murray had so tetchily called for only minutes before - Wawrinka detected the merest vapours of resistance at 0-30 but produced a shot from heaven, a screaming, unreachable forehand across his stationary opponent. It was statement tennis of the highest order, a knockout punch.
Wawrinka advanced behind another big serve and belted away a forehand for match point. As Murray's final forehand found the middle of the net, an uneven fight came to a sad conclusion.