DUBAI — Andy Murray was knocked out of the Dubai Championships Thursday, losing to 18-year-old Borna Coric 6-1, 6-3 in the quarterfinals. Murray, who reached the Australian Open final at the beginning of the month, had 55 unforced errors and only 15 winners against the Croatian teen. Many of his shots were landing in the net or sailing beyond the lines.
Coric, who never offered Murray a break-point opportunity, reached his second career ATP level semifinal and will next face Roger Federer. Coric's first semifinal appearance came last year in Basel, Switzerland, after beating Rafael Nadal.
Federer, the defending champion in Dubai, advanced when Richard Gasquet retired from their quarterfinal match. Federer was leading 6-1 with the Frenchman called it quits.
Also, fourth-seeded Tomas Berdych advanced by beating Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. He will next face No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia who brushed aside Marsel Ilhan of Turkey 6-1, 6-1.
Djokovic recorded a 6-1, 6-2 win over Andrey Golubev Wednesday, while Ilhan upset sixth-seeded Feliciano Lopez 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.
In other matches, Roberto Bautista Agut was upset by Gasquet 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (6), and Stakhovsky defeated Denis Istomin 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
Nadal bounces back
Top-seeded Rafael Nadal beat local qualifier Facundo Arguello 6-4, 6-0 to reach the quarterfinals of the Argentina Open Wednesday.
Nadal has yet to reach a final in three tournaments this season and was beaten in the semifinals last week in Rio de Janeiro, ending his 52-match unbeaten run on clay.
He has had illness and injury problems the last few seasons, and this year he says he's fit but not yet match conditioned.
Nadal, ranked fourth in the world, needed just 64 minutes to win his opening match in the clay court tournament, booking a clash with Federico Delbonis.
Nadal admitted he felt a few nerves opening his Buenos Aires campaign after a semifinal loss to Italian Fabio Fognini in Rio last week.
Delbonis, in a re-match of last year's Sao Paulo final, once again triumphed over Italian Paolo Lorenzi with a 6-4, 6-2 win.
In other key matches, third-seeded Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay advanced with a 7-6 (4), 6-1 win against Guido Andreozzi of Argentina, but No. 5 Leonardo Mayer was ousted by fellow Argentine Juan Monaco 6-4, 6-4.
Azarenka, Wozniacki thru
In Doha, Victoria Azarenka will face another former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in an intriguing Qatar Open quarterfinal after seeing off WTA rising star Elina Svitolina in three sets Wednesday.
Azarenka came good 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1 to maintain her quest for a third Qatar title after 2012 and 2013.
Top seed Petra Kvitova was in control of her second round clash with Jelena Jankovic at 6-1, 1-1 when the Serb had to retire with a hip problem. She now faces Carla Suarez Navarro, who came through her meeting with Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (7/2), 6-4.
Germany's sixth-seed Andrea Petkovic avenged her loss in Dubai last week to Kazakh Zarina Diyas 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.
Kvitova's compatriot Lucie Safarova pulled off the surprise of the day, her 14 aces firing her past Russian fifth seed Ekaterina Makarova 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3.
Agnieszka Radwanska, the Polish fourth seed, spoiled Flavia Penetta's 33rd birthday celebrations, cruising past the Italian 6-1, 6-1 to set up a last eight meeting with Venus Williams. — Agencies
