Murray Advances Safely into U.S. Open Last Eight

Olympic champion Andy Murray advanced safely to the last eight at the U.S. Open on Monday night.

Seeking his first Grand Slam title after four runner-up finishes, he defeated Canadian 15th seed Milos Raonic 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in a night match at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The 25-year-old Scotsman, who reached his eighth Grand Slam quarterfinal in a row, will play for a semifinal berth against Croatian 12th seed Marin Cilic, who beat Slovakian Martin Klizan 7-5, 6-4, 6-0.

Murray is 6-1 lifetime against Cilic but the only loss came in the fourth round of the 2009 U.S. Open.

"Tough match. He's a tough player," Murray said. "He works extremely hard. He has a solid game. I will have to work extremely hard to beat him."

Murray broke Raonic with a drop volley winner for a 5-4 lead and held to take the first set after 36 minutes. In the second set, Murray broke for a 3-2 edge when Raonic netted a forehand and held serve from there to seize command.

Raonic, trying to become the first Canadian man in a Grand Slam last eight in the Open era, surrendered breaks in the third and fifth games of the final set.

Murray, who never faced a break point, held serve to end matters after two hours with a service winner.

"I used a lot of variation," Murray said. "Milos has a huge game, massive serves. I guessed right a couple times, got lucky and was able to hit a few passing shots on him.

"I was just trying to react as fast as I could. Sometimes they fly past you and sometimes you get a racquet on it. Tonight I got a racquet on it."