JAMIE Murray and Bruno Soares’ defence of their US Open title came to an end with a quarter-final defeat by Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau at the US Open.
The Scottish-Brazilian pair had eased into the last eight without dropping a set but had a nightmare start and could not recover, losing 6-1, 6-2.
Murray and Soares swiftly found themselves 5-0 down to Dutchman Rojer and Romania’s Tecau on Grandstand.
They at least prevented a love set and made a better start to the second but Soares’ serve was broken in the fifth game and that spelled the beginning of the end.
Murray, who has been struggling with knee pain, and Soares failed to make much of an impression on their opponents’ serve, creating only two break points and failing to take either.
The defeat ends a disappointing season in the slams for Murray and Soares, who won the Australian Open and US Open titles last year but have failed to make it past the quarter-finals in any of the four tournaments in 2017.
Elsewhere, Pablo Carreno Busta defeated Diego Schwartzman to reach his first grand slam singles semi-final.
The 12th-seeded Spaniard, the highest-ranked player left in the bottom half, proved too solid for his opponent, winning 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
Having reached his first slam quarter-final at the French Open earlier this summer, Carreno Busta will now take on Sam Querrey or Kevin Anderson for a place in the final.
The 26-year-old dropped his racket and pumped his fists in celebration, and he said: “It’s incredible. It’s something that I always dreamed of but never think I can arrive here.
“It’s very exciting to be in the semi-finals. It was a very good match today. I tried to be focused all the time, Diego is a fighter.”
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