No. 4 seed Murray given early exit by Wawrinka

Andy Murray again traversed the well-worn footsteps of Grand Slam disappointment Sunday, hurried along by the second-best player from Switzerland, 27th-ranked Stanislas Wawrinka.

Wawrinka, who is 25 and cast in the shadow of countryman Roger Federer, let slip an early first-set lead but caught Murray in the second-set tiebreak and continually built speed toward a 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-3 victory.

The third-round dismissal of Murray, seeded fourth and arriving at the U.S. Open as the hottest player on the men's summer hard-court tour, was the 23-year-old Brit's second straight early exit from Flushing Meadows following his runner-up finish to Federer in 2008.

Murray has been considered a potential major tournament threat almost from the time he turned pro five years ago, but now has played 21 Grand Slam events and come close to a championship only twice - as a finalist at the '08 Open and this year's Australian Open.

"I have no idea whether I'll win a Grand Slam or not," a dejected Murray said. "You know, I want to. But if I never win one, then what? If I give a hundred percent, try my best, physically work as hard as I can, practice as much as I can, then that's all I can do.

"It's something I would love to do. I'll give it my best shot."

Back home - Murray is a Scot - he has in recent years faced enormous expectations to become the first British male winner of Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936, and twice has reached the semifinals of the world's oldest tournament. But he is beginning to be defined by his repeated almosts.

In five previous U.S. Opens, apart from 2008 - when he upset then-No. 1 seed Rafael Nadal in the semifinals - Murray has been bounced in the second, fourth, third and fourth rounds. "I'm disappointed, obviously," he said. "But I think I've been more disappointed. In other Grand Slams, when you get closer to winning the tournament, I think it becomes harder to take."

During Sunday's duel at Louis Armstrong Stadium, with more than 10,000 fans overflowing the court, Wawrinka had just taken a second-set lead when he called a trainer to tend to his right thigh.

The heavy wrap that was applied didn't appear to affect Wawrinka in the least as he advanced to the Open's fourth round for the third time in four years, the deepest he ever has gone in a major. He said he thought he detected that Murray was "a little bit injured" and forced play with sharp angles and drop shots. "You make what you feel and just play for the win," Wawrinka said.

Murray did acknowledge a mysterious fatigue. "I don't know" what can be done to win a major," he admitted. "I've never done it."

Wawrinka, meanwhile, may have become the biggest tennis news in Switzerland. He smiled. "For sure, not," he said.