Murray ousted in Aussie Open's fourth round

MELBOURNE, Australia - Being a favorite with the British bookmakers worked against Andy Murray at the Australian Open.

No. 14 Fernando Verdasco of Spain rallied to beat the 21-year-old Scot 2-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Monday to reach the quarterfinals at the season’s first major.

The fourth-seeded Murray saved two match points after falling behind 40-0 in the last game but wasn’t able to fend off a third, dumping a backhand into the net.

Murray, who lost in the U.S. Open final last year to Roger Federer, was attempting to become the first British man since 1936 to win a Grand Slam singles title.

After recent wins over No. 1-ranked Rafael Nadal and No. 2 Federer, Murray had become a favorite to beat them both for the Australian title.

Instead, it will be Verdasco, a key player in Spain’s Davis Cup final triumph in Argentina, who moves into the quarterfinals against the winner of Monday’s later match between 2008 runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and American James Blake.

Nadal had to go the distance Monday to reach the quarterfinals, ousting 2007 runner-up Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

In the opening match on center court, No. 6 Gilles Simon was leading 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 when his friend and fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils retired with a right wrist problem.

That brought top-ranked Nadal and Gonzalez on earlier than expected to determine who would meet Simon in the next round.

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Nadal ran off 12 of the first 13 points and broke Gonzalez twice in the first set en route to his third quarterfinal appearance at Melbourne Park in his last three trips.

The 22-year-old Spaniard went down a break in the third set but rallied to win five straight games and six of the last seven.

Gonzalez, who beat Nadal here in the quarterfinals on his run to the final two years ago, was coming off a difficult third-round win, when he rallied from two sets down to beat Richard Gasquet 12-10 in the fifth.

Matches early Monday were over surprisingly quickly, considering conditions were sunny and mild with temperatures around 75.

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Murray ousted in Aussie Open’s fourth round