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John McEnroe On Playing Djokovic

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John McEnroe On Playing Djokovic

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• John McEnroe On Playing Djokovic

  John McEnroe On Playing Djokovic

  John McEnroe on coming out of the booth to play Djokovic

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• Michael Phelps Stops By The US Open

  Michael Phelps Stops By The US Open

  Phelps stops by to watch Nadal vs. Monfils

NEW YORK -- That upward-pointing arrow defining Andy Murray's career flattened out dramatically Tuesday.

The British star, who had ascended to a No. 2 ranking, was ousted from the U.S. Open by No. 16 Marin Cilic, 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 -- a lopsided result as surprising for its score as the player he lost to.

And now Murray will slide back to No. 3 or No. 4 in the rankings, behind Rafael Nadal, who will move up by virtue of beating No. 13 Gael Monfils 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 in Tuesday night's last match to get to the quarterfinals.

Nadal will overtake Murray in next week's ATP rankings. Nadal was No. 1 or 2 from July 2005 until three weeks ago, when he dropped to No. 3.

Cilic overcame two set points in the first set and then pounded Murray over the last two to make his first career Grand Slam quarterfinal. Murray, who lost to Roger Federer in the final at Flushing Meadows last year, will finish 2009 without making a major final.

The match ended in the late afternoon in New York and just before newspaper deadlines back in Great Britain, where the sports sections follow Murray's every move. Certainly, those headlines won't be nice Wednesday morning.

"Today, I could've been better in pretty much every part of my game, whether it was mental, forehand, backhand, return," said Murray, who conceded that, yes, this was the most disappointing loss of his career.

How to explain this setback, coming in a season in which he'd been playing so well, against the Croatian he had beaten in their three previous meetings?

Murray was holding his left wrist and grimacing in pain at the end of the first set. He said the wrist had been bothering him for a week or so. Beyond that, he simply looked flat.

"Regardless of my wrist, I lost the match," Murray said. "I returned poorly. He served well and that was really the difference."

Murray got only 64 percent of Cilic's serves back into play, nearly 15 percent below his average this year, which ranks fourth in the world.

Cilic said saving the pair of set points, serving at 4-5 in the first, was the turning point. He responded by getting ahead 0-40 on Murray's serve in the next game, won the second break point and then took 13 of the next 17 games for his first career win over an opponent ranked in the top three.

"It was a relief for me to start getting more into the game," Cilic said, referring to his reaction after saving the set points. "I didn't have to think too much. I played good, played tactically well, and he was missing."

Murray had 29 unforced errors, 12 fewer than Cilic, but he hit only 13 winners and never looked comfortable in the match in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Cilic's next opponent is sixth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro, who defeated No. 24 Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

The tall Argentine boomed 22 aces against Ferrero and never lost serve to the 2003 French Open champion in their match at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

"I improve a little bit my serve," said del Potro, who hit 137 mph with his fastest serve. "I need to be good with that weapon.

"Today my serve works excellent," he said.

Del Potro, who reached his first Grand Slam semifinal at this year's French Open before falling to eventual winner Federer, had 44 winners as he dominated his 24th-seeded opponent in 2 hours, 8 minutes.

[+] Enlarge

AP Photo/Elise AmendolaJuan Martin del Potro never lost serve in his fourth-round victory.

"I have the confidence," del Potro said. "I have everything to do a good tournament. I am doing well but I would like to be in the semis or in my first final."

Off on Tuesday, but certainly looking on with interest, was Federer. Gone is the player who, at least the rankings say, was supposed to be the Swiss great's biggest challenger, the man who last month became the first since early 2006 to break the Federer-Nadal stranglehold on the top two spots.

Nadal moved well against Monfils, covering the court during their many extended exchanges. It was a high-quality, high-speed contest over the first two sets, with both men -- considered by many to be the best pure athletes on tour -- displaying tireless defense and powerful offense.

"Unbelievable, no? Sometimes you think you won the point," Nadal said, "and the ball is coming back another time and another time and another time."

Perhaps, but it was Monfils who began to tire late in the second set, sometimes leaning over with a hand on his knee to rest and gasp for air between points.

"Didn't have the miles in my legs," Monfils explained.

Nadal showed no real signs of problems from either the sore knees that prompted him to pull out of Wimbledon or the stomach muscle issue that arose during his last match.

"Well, very happy, no? After the last two matches I played, I had a few problems, but, anyway, I am here. I am in the quarterfinals for the third time," Nadal said.

Nadal did have a small bandage on his stomach again Tuesday, and he did seem to serve conservatively, with zero aces and zero double-faults.

"I am improving every day. After a month and a half or two months of [not playing], it is not easy coming back," Nadal said. "The knees are very good, so very happy for that."

When Nadal finished beating Monfils, a spectator ran out of the stands and approached Nadal on the sideline before security guards intervened. It wasn't nearly as scary an episode as occurred during the French Open final this year, when a man went up to Federer during the match and tried to place a hat on his head.

"For me, it wasn't a problem. The guy was really nice," Nadal said. "He said 'I love you' and he kissed me."

The intruder was arrested, tournament spokesman Tim Curry said.

"We're reviewing what happened and then will determine if we have to make any changes to our on-court security procedures," Curry said.

Nadal, trying to complete a career Grand Slam by winning the U.S. Open, will next face No. 11 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, who eliminated No. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-4.

"In my first match here I didn't feel like I really wanted it," Gonzalez, who reached as high as No. 5 in the world, said. "Today I feel much better, I play really good tennis again. Hopefully I can continue this week."

Murray, meanwhile, was one of the sport's new breakout stars, one of the few out there who could beat Federer with some regularity and winner of five tournaments this year.

None of them, however, was a Grand Slam, and his status as a popular choice to break through this week wasn't worth much against Cilic.

"I put pressure on myself to win the tournaments," Murray said. "It's nice to hear that sometimes from other players, or ex-players, but it doesn't make a difference who says you're going to win, lose tournaments. That doesn't affect you."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.