Andy Murray's defence of his US Open title is over after he was bullied off court in straight sets by an inspired Stanislaw Wawrinka in New York.
Murray was aiming to reach his 14th Grand Slam semi-final, surpassing the achievements of Fred Perry, but was steamrollered 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 by the world number ten and ninth seed.
Wawrinka claimed to be in the form of his life but a scrappy opening set looked to be heading to a tie-break until Murray failed to hold serve in a marathon tenth game lasting more than 15 minutes.
And Wawrinka's dogged persistence paid off when he took his sixth break point chance, Murray slamming his racquet to the court in frustration.
The British number one has been far from his fluid best at Flushing Meadows, particularly on his serve.
And his Swiss rival, who was starting to swagger, took advantage as a combination of his winners and Murray mistakes gifted him the second set.
The defending champion was a set and a break down in the US Open quarter-final against Marin Cilic last year and went on to win his first Slam title.
And he's also comeback from a two set deficit seven times in his career.
But Murray was clearly out of sorts - his frustration not aided by the windy conditions - and Wawrinka was in no mood to loosen his grip on the match, clinching the final set in just 37 minutes.
"He played great and I made a few mistakes, he just played too well," admitted Murray.
"I was playing poorly but I reached the quarter-finals of a Slam, which isn't easy. I've had a good run here the last couple of years but it's a shame it wasn't to be today.
"I couldn't dictate any points and he served very well, I had to do too much defending."
Wawrinka will now face either top seed and favourite Novak Djokovic or Mikhail Youzhny in the first Slam semi-final of his career.
"It feels amazing, he's the defending champion and a very tough opponent but to beat him in straight sets certainly wasn't easy," he said.
"That first set was huge and it gave me a lot of confidence for the rest of the match."
© Sportsbeat 2013