Andy Murray made light work of Grigor Dimitrov under the lights at the US Open as he cruised through to the quarter-finals, losing just five games.

The British number one was in scintillating form as he outwitted and outplayed the talented Bulgarian, who had no answer to Murray’s pounding groundstrokes and ruthless demeanour.

The match, which many fans had anticipated inside the Arthur Ashe Stadium, was over in a mere two hours and one minute, as Murray recorded a resounding 6-1 6-2 6-2 victory to set up a last eight clash with Japan’s Kei Nishikori.

"I played extremely well," said Murray after the match. "Tactically I played a good match, made very few unforced errors and made it tough for Grigor.

"Once I got up in the score and wasn't giving him any free points, I could sense it was getting tough for him. "I just wanted to keep my foot on the gas,” he added.

Murray gets fired up on serve

Murray’s serves were also firing on all cylinders, regularly registering above the 130 miles per hour mark.  One even clocked in at a staggering 141mph, which will go on record as his quickest ever.

"I only did it once," said the humble Scot. "I think it was luck. So I'm not expecting to do it again.''

The pair had met nine times before this match, with Murray leading the head to head 6-3 - however most of their encounters had been tight affairs.

Dimitrov beat Murray at Wimbledon two years ago and had also won their most recent match in Miami earlier this year.

Lorenzi doubts put to rest

However, in this form there was stopping the steely Scot, who quickly quashed any doubts which may have arisen following his battle with Paolo Lorenzi in the previous round.

After saving two break points in the opening game, Murray broke the Dimitrov serve for the first time to lead 3-1 when he forced the Bulgarian to play one more smash, which he buried in the net.

That set the tone for the match, as Dimitrov - who has climbed back up to world number 24 after a difficult 2015 - was unable seize any sort of authority in the baseline rallies.

Dimitrov put to the sword

From the first ball Murray constantly pinned Dimitrov into the Bulgarian’s backhand corner, meaning 24th seed was unable to dictate and instead made a string of errors.

Murray broke serve again to move 5-1 when he rifled a backhand passing shot down the line.

The second seed will have been well aware of Novak Djokovic’s imperious performance the previous night, yet Murray appeared determined to better it here.  

The Brit broke Dimitrov again in the opening game of the second when he swatted away a forehand, and then again two games later - when the Bulgarian dropped another error into the net.

Murray did lose his serve for the first time when leading 3-0, however there were never any significant signs that the match would suddenly turn.

The third set was equally one sided, as Murray completed a dominant display.

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About the author
Joe Nicholson
Sports Journalism student at Sunderland University. Writer for the Championship and tennis offices.