Andy Murray’s February torment deepened on Thursday after he lost 6-1, 6-3 to 18-year-old Croatian tyro Borna Coric in the quarterfinals of the ATP Dubai Open.
Novak Djokovic also made the last four after thumping Turkey’s Marsel Ilhan 6-1, 6-1.
Top-seeded Rafael Nadal entered the quarterfinals of the ATP Argentina Open on Wednesday with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Argentine qualifier Facundo Arguello.
Important results:At Dubai: ATP Dubai Open:Quarterfinals: Tomas Berdych bt Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-3, 4-6, 6-2; Borna Coric bt Andy Murray 6-1, 6-3; Roger Federer bt Richard Gasquet 6-1 retired; Novak Djokovic bt Marsel Ilhan 6-1, 6-1.
At Buenos Aires: ATP Argentina Open: Second round: Rafael Nadal bt Facundo Arguello 6-4, 6-0; Juan Monaco bt Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 6-4.
At Acapulco: ATP & WTA Mexican Open: Men: Second round: Kei Nishikori bt Lu Yen-Hsun 6-1, 6-3; Alexandr Dolgopolov bt Andreas Haider-Maurer 6-2, 6-3; Viktor Troicki bt Santiago Giraldo 6-3, 6-4; Ivo Karlovic bt Dusan Lajovic 3-6, 6-3, 6-1; Ryan Harrison bt Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 4-6, 6-0; Bernard Tomic bt Benjamin Becker 4-6, 6-3, 6-2; David Ferrer bt Marinko Matosevic 7-6(3), 6-4.
Women: Maria Sharapova bt Mariana Duque 6-1, 6-2; Caroline Garcia bt Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-2, 6-3; Mirjana Lucic-Baroni bt Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-5; Monica Puig bt Sara Errani 6-1, 6-1.
At Doha: WTA Qatar Open: Second round: Andrea Petkovic bt Zarina Diyas 5-7, 6-2, 6-4; Victoria Azarenka bt Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-1; Caroline Wozniacki bt Alexandra Dulgheru 6-1, 3-0 (retd.); Carla Suarez Navarro bt Karolina Pliskova 7-6(2), 6-4.