US Open - Radwanska dumped out, refuses to blame grandfather's death

In another boilover of a women's already without Sara Errani, Petra Kvitova, Caroline Wozniacki and Sam Stosur, Poland's third seed was eliminated 6-4 6-4 by Russia's Ekaterina Makarova under floodlights on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Radwanska was aiming to become the only woman to reach the quarter-finals at the four Grand Slam events this year but despite a blazing start, in which she led 4-0, the 24-year-old was bundled out by her more powerful opponent in one hour and 32 minutes.

Radwanska's preparations for Flushing Meadows were complicated last month when she left the US during the Cincinnati Masters to attend the funeral for her grandfather in Poland.

"I had a couple of days to practice, to adjust to the courts, to prepare for the Open," she said. I don't want to make any excuse. It's not because I went back home that I lost today. It's not that, for sure."

Makarova struck 28 winners to overwhelm the more tactically-minded Radwanska. The world No.4, who moved up in the seedings following the withdrawal of Maria Sharapova, lost eight straight games to concede the first set and trail 0-2 in the second.

Radwanska fought her way back, and held four break points to level the second set at 4-4. Makarova, the 24th seed, sealed the game with an ace before going on to close out the match with a flurry of big serves and forehands.

"I wouldn't know what happened," Radwanska said. "She was a little bit nervous in the beginning but started to play better and better, and she hit the ball very well.

"I didn't do anything to win that first set."

Makarova's next opponent will be Li Na after China's fifth seed defeated Serbia's Jelena Jankovic 6-3 6-0 on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

It will be the 25-year-old Makarova's first quarter-final at the U.S. Open. She has twice reached the last eight at the Australian Open.

"It feels amazing, I really love this tournament," she said.

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Ashes 2013: Andy Flower refuses to rule out stepping down as Hugh Morris quits

The sport in this country is already about to undergo a major upheaval as Hugh Morris, the managing director of England cricket, is poised to leave his position to take up a role at his former county, Glamorgan, Telegraph Sport can reveal.

It will be a significant blow for the England team as Morris has overseen three successive Ashes triumphs since his appointment as a result of the Schofield Report that followed the 5-0 Ashes debacle in Australia in 2006-07.

It is clear Flower will decide his own future and he refused to look even as far as the next series when asked if he was on the verge of ending his five-year tenure.

Newspaper reports have suggested he will stand down after the fifth Test in Sydney in January and on Sunday he was asked if the draw at the Oval could in fact be his final game in charge. “We’ve got to enjoy the moment and don’t look too far ahead. We have to really enjoy this evening,” he replied.

During Sunday’s final day of the series, England and Wales Cricket Board insiders were dismissing reports that Flower is planning to go but the vacancy created by Morris’s resignation could change the situation as the pair have worked closely together to build England into an Ashes winning team and a side that reached No1 in the Test rankings.

Flower is contracted until after the 2015 World Cup and is a man of his word so it would take a major reason for him to contemplate an early departure should the speculation be true. A natural time for Flower to depart would be at the end of next summer after the five-match Test series against India. After that England do not play Test cricket again for nearly 10 months as they concentrate on one-day cricket and the 50-over World Cup in Australia.

Flower will be linked to Morris’ role but whether he would want to give up the coaching role he enjoys is unclear. Flower would be a wanted man in the Indian Premier League and county cricket, both avenues for lucrative coaching roles.

Morris, a former Glamorgan and England batsman, has been the often-silent strategist behind England’s recent successes, which also included a first Test series victory in India for 28 years. He has professionalised the whole England set-up, carefully selecting well-qualified backroom staff and even at one stage using the revolutionary strategy of employing three captains (Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook and Stuart Broad) for three different formats.

He was also a calm diplomat when the Mumbai atrocities occurred during England’s one-day tour of India in 2008, with the team returning home before returning for two Tests. He also dealt swiftly with the Kevin Pietersen/Peter Moores imbroglio that followed that tour, appointing the hugely successful combination of Strauss and Andy Flower as captain and coach thereafter.

Morris has also overseen huge advances in the women’s game, with the national team winning both the World Cup and World Twenty20 in 2009.

The decision will be a surprise to all concerned at the England & Wales Cricket Board, where Morris has worked since 1997, when he retired from playing immediately following Glamorgan’s winning of the county championship.

But as he showed there by retiring at just 33, with many years of batting left in him, Morris likes to leave at the top, and he clearly feels that the England team has achieved everything he set out to achieve at the beginning of his tenure.

At the ECB, as well as being managing director, Morris has been technical director, performance director, deputy chief executive and briefly chief executive following the departure of Tim Lamb in 2004.

As performance director Morris set up the hugely successful National Academy at Loughborough, which was opened in 2003, as well implementing the England Performance and Development Programmes that are so important in the production line of England cricketers.

Glamorgan said on Sunday that Alan Hamer had resigned from his role as chief executive. Morris is likely to take up a position at Glamorgan encompassing both chief executive and director of cricket, and there he will face a huge challenge, with the county in considerable debt and success on the field having been virtually non-existent since they last won a trophy in 2004.

England’s search for a replacement for Morris will not be easy, with former Test cricketers possessing an MBA, as Morris does, thin on the ground, but former captain Strauss and Flower will doubtless be strong early candidates.

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