Murray books NY clash with Djokovic

Andy Murray recorded his best win since lifting the Wimbledon trophy last year to set up a blockbuster US Open quarter-final against Novak Djokovic.

Murray had not beaten a top-10 player since his emotional victory over Djokovic on Centre Court more than a year ago but played a very fine match in the New York heat last night to defeat ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5 7-5 6-4.

It maintained the Scot’s impressive record of having reached at least the quarter-finals of every grand slam tournament he has played in for the past four years.

Novak Djokovic had earlier moved into the quarter-finals of a grand slam for the 22nd time in a row after seeing off Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Kohlschreiber, the 22nd seed, was the last man to deny Djokovic a place in the last eight of a major tournament, beating him in the third round at Roland Garros in 2009, but had no answer yesterday.

Djokovic made a lightning start, winning the first four games, and although Kohlschreiber began to find some rhythm he could do nothing to prevent a 6-1 7-5 6-4 victory for Djokovic.

“It was very humid for both of us,” Djokovic said.

“We had a lot of long rallies. The match could have gone either way, especially in the second set.”

Serena Williams reached her first grand slam quarter-final of the year with victory over Kaia Kanepi.

So far there have been none of the wobbles that led to unexpected defeats for the world No 1 in Melbourne, Paris and at Wimbledon.

She has not lost more than three games in any set and was a relatively comfortable 6-3 6-3 winner over her Estonian opponent yesterday.

Williams has looked totally focused on the job in hand this tournament and did not lose a point in her first three service games of the match.

Williams said: “She plays really well, she hits the ball incredibly hard. The turning point was I kept fighting and I relaxed, I said, ‘Serena, whatever happens, you’re still in doubles’.”

Williams then raised her hands in the air, and said triumphantly: “I finally made a quarter-final this year! I think I felt [the pressure] in my serving game, ‘Can I please make it to the quarters once this year’. I’m glad to do it in New York.”

In the last eight, Williams will face 11th seed Flavia Pennetta.

The Italian has only made one quarter-final at all the other grand slams combined but is through to her fifth in New York after a 7-5 6-2 victory over Casey Dellacqua.

Pennetta has lost all five previous matches against her fellow 32-year-old Williams but will head into the clash with a positive attitude.

She said: “Of course, she’s better than me, but if I believe I can beat her, maybe if she doesn’t have a good day I can do that.”