Verdasco ends Murray's hopes

Fernando Verdasco celebrates winning a point during his victory over Andy Murray.

Ultimately all the promise of the opening weeks of the year came to nothing for Andy Murray. The Briton had been many pundits favourite to reign in Melbourne after winning events in Abu Dhabi and Qatar in the build-up to the Australian Open. Victories over Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick had hinted that the Scot was ready to take the next step up and add a grand slam title to his already impressive list of accomplishments. But when the going got tough yesterday in the Hisense Arena, it was not Murray who got going, but rather his Spanish opponent Fernando Verdasco who triumphed 2-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in their fourth round match. Murray, 21, put in the kind of performance that spectators were used to seeing from him in 2006 and 2007 - moments of brilliance weighed down by mistakes and inconsistency, with his temper boiling over. Indeed at one point in the fourth set, the dark side of Murray returned as he publicly admonished himself, screaming: "What the hell are you doing." The fourth seed twice led by a set against Verdasco, but the Spaniard kept battling and his own good play matched with some wretched mistakes from his opponent meant it was he who progressed through to a quarter- final match with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga tomorrow. Murray was phlegmatic about his shock loss and said he was not going to panic after the frustrating defeat. "I'm disappointed that I lost," he said. "But I'll try and learn from it. I want to win every one [game] that I play, but I'm not going to get down about it. I worked very hard in the off‑season. It's been a good start to the year." Murray was full of praise for Verdasco and how the 14th seed had played and had served against him. "I obviously did have my chances," he added. "But sometimes guys serve too well or hit the ball too big. He played great when he was behind." Murray had never lost against Verdasco prior to yesterday's clash and it looked as if it would be business as usual as two breaks of serve helped him take the first set comfortably. But Verdasco, 25, had already hinted he was capable of causing Murray problems as he had a couple of break points in the first set, and with his rasping forehand finding its range he took control of the second set. He raced 5-0 ahead before closing it out to level things. Murray though roared back as breaks in the second and sixth games saw him take the third set in style. But critically he failed to build on the momentum he had, and Verdasco was able to convert an early 3-0 lead into the fourth set. The final set was a tight affair with Murray left to regret failing to take either of the two break points he had in the sixth game. Verdasco then broke him in the seventh game, before serving out for a memorable victory and a first quarter-final appearance in a grand slam event. Verdasco said: "I had a very good day. It was a long match. I was feeling really good physically and mentally. So I'm so happy." Verdasco takes on Tsonga in the last eight after the Frenchman made short work of the American James Blake 6-4, 6-4, 7-6. The powerful fifth seed dominated the opening two sets, with a single break in each proving enough to put him firmly in control of proceedings. He was made to work harder in the third set as Blake moved 5-2 ahead. But Tsonga broke in the ninth game to take the set to a tie-break which he won 7-3 to clinch his spot in the last eighth. Last year's Australian Open runner-up was pleased with his display and said: "It's a big performance for me because James is a good player. "For me it was really important to win today." Looking ahead to facing Verdasco, he said: I know that Fernando is a really good player. "He won the Davis Cup [with Spain] last year. And I think since that he's very confident in his game and it's gonna be hard." [e-mail]