Murray crashes out to Ljubicic in quarter-final of China Open
Published:Novak Djokovic will not get his wish of facing Andy Murray in the final of the China Open after Ivan Ljubicic emphatically beat Murray in straight sets.
Both Nikolay Davydenko and Robin Soderling also suffered shock defeats in the quarter-finals of the China Open on Thursday morning.
Both players were comprehensively beaten, Davydenko lost 7-6, 6-4 to John Isner and Soderling suffered his first defeat to David Ferrer on the hard courts 6-2, 6-4.
That leaves just Novak Djokovic out of the top four seeds left in the competition and he is now the emphatic favourite to win the China Open.
After defeating Albert Montanes in the third round last Thursday, Murray, without the aid of a coach, pinpointed the areas he needs to work on if he is to win a grand slam.
“I sat down the day after the match and spoke to the guys I work with and decided the things I needed to work on and how I was going to improve,” Murray said.
“I came away from those discussions excited because I understand what I need to do.”
But Murray wasn’t able to put those improvements into his game on Friday when Croat Ivan Ljubicic beat him 6-3, 6-2.
Ljubicic has become a bogey player for Murray with the two sharing the spoils in the head-to-head market with three apiece, but Murray knows players like Ljubicic shouldn’t prove a problem if he is to convert himself into a grand slam winner.
Ljubicic will now face Albert Ferrer in the semi-final and Ferrer is favourite at 8/15 to beat Lujbicic, 11/8.
Novak Djokovic faces John Isner in the second semi-final and Djokovic is the 2/7 favourite to beat the American who is available at 5/2.
Despite the loss, Murray should still qualify for the ATP finals in London in November. See the full China Open betting odds market here.
