US Open 2016: Andy Murray flies by overwhelmed Dimitrov to set Nishikori clash

Not for the first time, and probably not the last, world No2 Andy Murray was aiming to be the last Briton standing come the singles quarter-finals of the US Open.

Despite bold runs by eight singles compatriots who had started in the main draw—and several of whom had made their best ever Major runs over their best ever opposition—all were now out of the picture, though Murray saw brother Jamie get into the doubles quarter-finals here just half an hour before he made his own attempt to do the same.

Just like all but one of the eight playing the bottom half of the draw, Murray had avoided playing a seed thus far. He had avoided the pitfall of Gilles Simon, nor did he end up facing the highest seed in his eighth, Feliciano Lopez. But he would not underestimate the quality of Grigor Dimitrov, ranked 22, and a former top-10 player at the age of 23.

Dimitrov, owner of eye-catching shot-making and flair, and a flashy one-handed backhand, has been a favourite almost since he caught the eye with the Wimbledon and US Open junior titles in 2008.

Since winning his first three titles in 2014, he had struggled with form and confidence—until breaking back from No40 a few weeks back to his present 24. And he had scored three wins over Murray in the past, including their last in Miami.

But Murray, one of the favourites to win his second title in New York and enjoying some of the best form of his career, was the star attraction. The Briton is hugely admired at this tournament: He has a work ethic second to none, and a love for this city and venue.

There was certainly no doubting his form. Since the final of the Madrid Masters in May, Murray had lost just one match, the final of the French Open, until coming up against Marin Cilic in Cincinnati. Along the way, the Briton claimed titles at the Rome Masters, Queen’s, Wimbledon and the Rio Olympics, a 22-match unbroken streak and was now 25-1 since Paris.

The 2012 champion was 43 for 10 losses on these courts, with a runner-up, semi and two quarters on his resume, too.

Even so, Murray paid Dimitrov due respect ahead of their meeting: “Well, he’s a very good player. He does a lot of things well on the court. He has good feel, moves well… He’s obviously not played his best the last 18 months or so, but definitely the last few weeks has been playing very well, getting back to a level that he’s capable of.”

But more than in any other match in New York, there was a steel in Murray’s demeanour right from the first point. He had let Paolo Lorenzi edge back into his match in the third round, and clearly had no intention of doing the same now.

It was ruthless.

Murray in fact faced two break points in the first game, but Murray saved them with two big serves on what would be a big serving night. Dimitrov continued to live with him for a few games, but the Bulgarian got lured into playing long baseline rallies across the width of the court, seemingly unable to throw in enough variety of pace or length, or generate angles that might disrupt the rhythm. He double faulted to bring up break point, then put a smash into the net.

And that would sum up much of the match. Murray held to love, 4-1, broke again with a backhand pass, and held for the set with a 141mph serve, the fastest ace he had ever delivered. Dimitrov had managed just two winners.

‘Intimidating’ came to mind, no doubt the reason Dimitrov double faulted and then put a forehand long to offer 0-40, and Murray fired a forehand to break. A 138mph serve from the Briton to hold and he broke again. But he took his foot off the pedal momentarily to allow Dimitrov a break back. That was soon rectified with another break, and he served it out, via a magical reflex volley that will surely make the tournament’s highlights reel, 6-2.

The third set was the same, an immediate break, a 132mph ace, and some terrific defence as Dimitrov plied the back corners, but he never tried a drop shot, a serve and volley, really anything to disrupt the steam train that Murray had become.

The Briton raced out to a 3-0 lead in the third, yet continued to chivvy himself on, growing more urgent with every point. He held with an ace for 5-1, then out of the blue, a shower fell during the change of ends. But no sooner had it started than it ended, and the ground was bone dry in seconds. The match was over too, in precisely two hours, 6-2.

Dimitrov afterwards admitted that he had not risen the occasion as he would have liked.

“It was a great experience for me to get out there and play a night match on Ashe. Obviously I’m very disappointed from the result. I feel I’ve been doing really well the past five, six weeks, practice-wise, winning a few good and close matches when I had to.

“Obviously today I ran out of fuel I think physically and mentally. For sure I was a little bit overwhelmed to get out there, playing that prime time match. Of course, it’s a great experience for me. Andy right now is the best player out there. Of course, he deserves all the credit today.”

Murray, though, could hardly take the smile off his face.

“I played extremely well. Tactically, I think played a good match and I served very well when I was behind on the games. It’s definitely up there: I played very well today, very few unforced errors and made it very tough for Grigor.”

The stats confirmed that. Dimitrov made just 13 winners to 43 errors in the match. Murray made twice as many winners and half as many errors.

He added: “Once I got up in the score, I could sense it was getting tough for him. I just wanted to keep my foot on the gas, which I didn’t really do the other day… I wanted too make sure if I got ahead, I stayed on top of him, I didn’t have any dip in concentration or my level, and I stuck to my tactics that were working well.”

Murray next plays Kei Nishikori, who beat Ivo Karlovic, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4). A former finalist here, the No6 seed nevertheless lost to Murray just a month ago in the Rio Olympics, 6-1, 6-4.

“I played a really good match against him in Olympics a few weeks ago; I’ll need to play like that again if I want to try and get the win because he is obviously one of the best players in the world and he loves these conditions.”