Andy Murray was defeated by Fernando Verdasco for the second consecutive tournament after the Spaniard won their Shenzhen Open quarterfinal 6-4, 6-4 on Friday.
World No. 28 Verdasco, who beat Murray in four sets in the second round of the US Open in August, was the comfortable winner in China and didn’t face a single break point in the second set as he won in one hour and 40 minutes.
Murray had secured the biggest win of his comeback from injury in the previous round in Shenzhen when he beat world No. 11 David Goffin in straight sets on Thursday.
He now moves on to play the China Open in Beijing, in what will be his final event of the season. The three-time Grand Slam winner announced earlier this month that he will miss the ATP Masters events in Paris and Shanghai in order to be “in the best possible shape” for the Australian Open in January.
Verdasco will play Yoshihito Nishioka in the semifinals after the Japanese player defeated Murray’s fellow Brit Cameron Norrie 7-6(2), 6-2 earlier in the day.
Alex De Minaur will play Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the other semifinal on Saturday. The world No. 40 from Australia beat Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 7-6(7) while Frenchman Herbert overcame Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 6-4 in just under three hours.