AC

NEW YORK -- World No. 1 Novak Djokovic wasn't outplaying his longtime rival Andy Murray early in Thursday's quarterfinal match as much as he was escaping him. In the first eight games, Djokovic lost one break point, then another, and another -- only to break back and blitz Murray in the first tiebreaker to steal the opening set. The Serbian star survived another stretch in the middle of the match when he couldn't trust his own forehand. Then came another long run of games in which Murray was cracking off so many booming winners with his own forehand that Murray actually allowed himself a rare on-court smile at one point. But by the end, Djokovic did the same thing to Murray -- his friend and rival since childhood -- that he has done while beating him six of the past seven times they've played. He again succeeded in pushing eighth-seeded Murray so far to the point of distraction and fatigue -- this time, taking the match by the final score of 7-6 (1), 6-7 (1), 6-2,...