Murray through as opponent quits

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Venue: Melbourne ParkDate: 16-29 JanuaryCoverage: Watch live on Eurosport; singles finals and one men's semi-final on BBC Two/Red Button/HD channel/website; listen on BBC Radio 5 live; text commentaries and reports on the BBC Sport website Kukushkin retires to send Murray through

Andy Murray reached the Australian Open quarter-finals for a third year running after Mikhail Kukushkin retired through injury while trailing 6-1 6-1 1-0.

Two five-set matches in rounds two and three took their toll on Kazakhstan's world number 92 Kukushkin, who pulled out with a left hip flexor problem.

"It was hot on the court and it is good for me that I have conserved energy," said British number one Murray.

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The fourth seed will play Kei Nishikori after he stunned Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Murray has a winning record against the 24th seed, the first Japanese man to reach the Australian quarter-finals for 80 years, and the Scot approaches that match on Wednesday feeling fresh.

He described the 49-minute win over Kukushkin, 24, as "boring" and stated his intention to return to Rod Laver Arena later on Monday for an extra practice session.

"I played him [Kukushkin] a few weeks ago at Brisbane and it was three tough sets and I expected another tough one today," said the Scot.

"I hadn't seen him play before Brisbane and he hit some huge shots early and made me work.

"It is tough for him for that to happen in the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time."

As in his third-round victory over Michael Llodra, Murray, 24, played closer to the baseline and attacked his groundstrokes with plenty of aggression.

Kukushkin beat Gael Monfils in five gruelling sets on Saturday and those exertions seemed to hinder him in the scorching Melbourne heat.

Three unforced errors in the first game handed Murray a break and the Scot struck again for a 3-0 lead.

Kukushkin finally displayed some fight to hit back in game four, only to relinquish his serve again after pushing two backhands wide.

Continue reading the main story Jonathan Overend,
BBC tennis correspondent

This was entirely predictable. Kukushkin, having played back-to-back five setters, looked off the pace from the start. It was going to be a thrashing or a retirement and Kukushkin chose the second option, having received treatment for a hip flexor injury. Murray looked sharp, as he has all tournament, and things are building nicely. What a bonus to only have to play for 49 minutes on the hottest day of the tournament so far. After the fun match against Llodra, now the half-day against Kukushkin, this could be the break he needs to make all the difference in the second week

The world number 92 gave an indication he was not 100% fit when he called for the trainer at the next change of ends, and Murray broke once more to wrap up the 22-minute first set.

A lapse in focus saw the world number four relinquish an early break in the second set with a poor backhand into the net.

But a struggling Kukushkin, who started rushing the net in a bid to shorten points, handed the momentum straight back.

Murray breached his defences with some clean hitting to go 5-1 up before serving out another 22-minute set to love.

Having required more treatment and then lost his serve for an eighth successive time, Kukushkin called it quits.

Next up for Murray is Nishikori, who stunned sixth seed and 2008 runner-up Tsonga 2-6 6-2 6-1 3-6 6-3 in three hours and 30 minutes.

"I'm feeling unbelievable," Nishikori said. "To reach my first quarter-final and beating Tsonga makes me really happy.

"Hopefully it's big in Japan. A lot of people messaged me when I got to last 16. Now I'm in the quarter-finals, it's really exciting."

In the mixed doubles, Britain's Colin Fleming reached the quarter-finals with his partner, the South African-born American Liezel Huber.

The duo defeated American Steve Lipsky and Vladimira Uhlirova of the Czech Republic 6-3 6-2.

Source BBC

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Conrad Murray Found Guilty of Involuntary Manslaughter in Michael Jackson’s Death

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A Los Angeles jury found Conrad Murray, the physician accused of involuntary manslaughter in the 2009 death of Michael Jackson, guilty on Monday.

The jury, made up of five men and seven women, deliberated for about eight hours between Friday and Monday after hearing closing arguments from the prosecution and defense throughout the day on Nov. 3 in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Murray, 58, sat stoically while the verdict was read. His lead attorney, Ed Chernoff, who came to Los Angeles from Houston to defend him, looked sullen and frustrated. After the announcement, dismissal of the jury and queries on sentencing to the defense, Murray was remanded and denied bail. Sentencing was set for Nov. 29.

(MORE: NewsFeed’s Coverage of the Conrad Murray Trial)

The six-week trial hinged largely on scientific demonstrations and the testimonies of two well-regarded anesthesiologists, Dr. Steven Shafer and Dr. Paul White. Both are highly published and sought-after lecturers and experts on the anesthetic propofol. They were on opposite sides when it came to determining whether Murray was negligent by leaving Jackson’s bedside after he gave him an injection of the drug and by failing to immediately call 911 when he returned to discover that Jackson was not breathing.

(PHOTOS: A Post-Michael Guide to the Jackson Family)

An autopsy found that Jackson was killed by an overdose of the drug. Defense lawyers argued that Murray’s carelessness caused a lethal amount of it to seep into Jackson’s system. Murray admitted to giving propofol to Jackson but said he was trying to wean him off it because he feared the pop singer was becoming addicted. Meanwhile, Murray’s defense countered that Jackson could have taken the drug while Murray was out of the bedroom. White himself said on the stand that Jackson, desperate for sleep in preparation for his comeback This Is It tour, may have injected himself with the drug, causing his own death.

Others, including Jackson’s bodyguard, nurse and people involved with the launch of the tour, were also called to the stand. Murray told Judge Michael Pastor that he would not testify in his own defense.

Loyola Law School Los Angeles Professor Stan Goldman, who has been monitoring the trial from the beginning, said the verdict came as no surprise given the strength of the prosecution’s case.

“I think it would have been a shocker if this hadn’t happened,” he explained. “Conrad Murray’s criminal negligence was pretty obvious once the trial got going.”

He continued, “The prosecution’s case was pretty overwhelming. The best argument the defense had was one they couldn’t make: that Michael Jackson wanted this particular doctor to give him this powerful sleep medication. The only chance the defense had was to prove that Jackson caused his own death.”

With the guilty verdict, Murray could face four years behind bars and the loss of his medical license.

MORE: Jackson’s Death: How Dangerous Is Propofol?

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Murray drops Jackson drug claim

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12 October 2011 Last updated at 19:53 GMT Dr Murray say he was trying to wean Michael Jackson off using propofol for his insomnia Lawyers for Dr Conrad Murray have stepped back from claims that Michael Jackson swallowed a fatal dose of propofol when he was out of sight.

The claim had been a key argument in Dr Murray's defence at the trial over the superstar's death. They may still argue he injected the dose himself.

The change came a day after the doctor who performed Jackson's autopsy said he could not have self-administered it.

Dr Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

If convicted Dr Murray could face up to four years in prison and the loss of his medical licence.

Both the prosecution and Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor appeared surprised by Wednesday's disclosure, reports said.

'Trivial' effect

J Michael Flanagan, one of Dr Murray's lawyers, said he had commissioned a study about the effects of swallowed propofol.

Mr Flanagan said the effects from swallowing propofol, a powerful anaesthetic that Dr Murray injected to relieve Jackson's insomnia, would be "trivial".

"We are not going to assert at any time during this trial that Michael Jackson orally administered propofol," Mr Flanagan said.

Dr Christopher Rogers: "It's reasonable to believe that the doctor had an imperfect control over the dose"

The disclosure was made in court but not in front of jurors, the Associated Press reported.

Lead defence lawyer Ed Chernoff said during opening statements on 27 September that his team would try to show that Jackson gave himself the fatal dose of propofol.

On Tuesday, Dr Christopher Rogers said it was more likely Jackson's Dr Murray mistakenly gave Jackson too much of the drug in an effort to help him sleep.

"The circumstances, from my point of view, do not support self-administration of propofol," the chief of forensic medicine at the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office said.

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