Sky Bet's Tim Clement pours cold water on hopes of Andy Murray winning the US Open.
Murray pushed out to 5/1 for US Open following Haase battle
The Murray camp may be buoyed by his five-set comeback victory over Robin Haase, but in reality, the nature of the Scot's victory does little to convince that this is his year.
The world number four made very hard work of an opponent that, while talented, should not have come so close to causing the biggest upset of the men's draw so far.
Not only did Haase earn a two-set lead but, more worryingly, after receiving treatment for nearly every area of his injury-prone body, managed to give Murray a scare in the decider by breaking back twice.
Such a susceptibility to be defeated on serve is not the form of a Grand Slam champion - as was seen earlier in the day with second favourite Maria Sharapova going out to 27th seed Flavia Pennetta following 12 double-faults.
Sky Bet certainly were not impressed by Murray's display, pushing the British number one's price out to
5/1 from 4/1 in the outright.
The Scot had been rated joint second favourite with holder Rafael Nadal following his triumph in the Cincinnati Masters, with the Spaniard failing to win a title away from his favoured clay in 2011.
Nadal romp
However, while Murray was spluttering against the world number 41, nine-time Grand Slam champion Nadal was romping ahead 6-2 6-2 before a broken Nicolas Mahut threw the towel in.
The US Open has often been touted as the best hope for Murray to win a Grand Slam following his final appearance in 2008.
But that straight-sets defeat has been followed up by a fourth-round and then third-round exit, the latter his earliest exit since a first-round loss in the Australian Open three years back.
Murray's next two steps towards Flushing Meadows glory look relatively straight-forward, but from there it gets tricky.
Up next is Felciano - or Delciano to Mrs Murray - Lopez, who caused the Scot few problems at Wimbledon, with either unseeded American Donald Young or 24th seed Juan Ignacio Chela waiting in the fifth round.
Then, however, he is likely to face either Juan Martin Del Potro or John Isner with the two both looking in fine form, especially - unlike Murray - on their serves.
Injury
Having missed the majority of 2010 due to his wrist injury, 2009 winner Del Potro hasn't actually been beaten at Flushing Meadows since he went out to Murray in the quarters in 2008 and is showing signs of getting back to his best.
Fellow giant Isner, meanwhile, looks almost untouchable on serve, spraying down 20 aces in an unbroken straight-sets win over Robby Ginepri in the second round.
If the Scot can make the semi-final then his opponent is likely to be the man who holds the most commanding record against him on tour - Nadal.
The Spaniard leads 12-4 in their meetings, including victories in their last four clashes - all at semi-final stages.
We need not mention anything more about the man who Murray is likely to face if he makes a fourth Grand Slam final than a year record of 57-2.
