The tentative player who scraped through his third round match with Italian journeyman Paolo Lorenzi was just a pale memory when Andy Murray took the court with Grigor Dimitrov on Thursday night in Flushing Meadows. In what should have been his most challenging test so far against the n.22 seed Bulgarian, the Brit no.1 showcased an impeccable performance that swiftly demolished any ambition his opponent was harboring to put up a decent fight.
“Just because I played badly a couple of days ago, it doesn’t mean that I have to play badly today” said Murray after his comprehensive 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 win. “I played a really good match, technically and tactically, I kept my foot on the gas and I didn’t give him any chance to get back into the match”.
The two break points Murray had to face in the first game of the match, both erased with great authority, turned out to be the only moments of relative uncertainty about the eventual winner of the match, since the Scot took an early break for a 3-1 lead following an overhead unforced error by Dimitrov and then went on to win eight games in a row to build a commanding 6-1, 3-0 lead after less than an hour of play.
The match was so one-sided that the atmosphere in the Arthur Ashe Stadium was lacking the usual electricity of night matches and the crowd chatting under the brand-new retractable roof was even more distracted than usual, probably comparing pictures of the breathtaking views of the Manhattan skyline that can be seen from the west side of the stadium. Four unforced error by Murray gave Dimitrov the only break of the set at 3-0 in the second set, but the 25-year-old immediately returned the favour, squandering a 30-0 lead with three unforced error and a final double fault.
The very solid performance showcased by Murray in his baseline game neutralized an aggressive but extremely erratic Dimitrov (43 unforced errors was his final tally), whose backhand failed to support his ambitions to keep Murray on the defensive and shrink the court for his opponent’s passing shots.
The Bulgarian finally managed to hold his serve after five consecutive breaks at 1-5 in the second set, not before he had to face two set points for a second 6-1.
The first two games of the third set delivered a final blow to Dimitrov’s hopes to make an unlikely comeback, when double fault number 5 and four more unforced errors gave Murray a break and immediately after the world n.2 survived a 15-40 scare with four consecutive winners that launched him on the final straight to close the match in one minute over two hours.
“It’s a great experience for me to get out there and play a night match on Ashe. Obviously I’m very disappointed from the result – said Dimitrov showing up for his press conference mere minutes after walking off the court – I feel I’ve been doing really well the past five, six weeks, practicing-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, you know, 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”.
In the quarterfinals Murray will face Kei Nishikori, who defeated Ivo Karlovic in straight sets on Monday afternoon. “I have played well against him in the past – said Murray, who is 7-1 against the 27-year-old Japanese, and defeated him handily a few weeks ago at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro – But, you know, he likes these conditions. He plays well in New York. He’s made his only slam final here. He beat Novak here. He’s obviously I think playing pretty well this summer. He played some good stuff at the Olympics and won the bronze. I played a really good match against him when we played a few weeks ago. I’m aware I’ll need to do that again in a couple days if I want to beat him because he’s one of the best players in the world, plays extremely well on hard court. It’s going to be very, very tough”.
