Three-time grand slam champion Andy Murray put on an extremely impressive performance in his fourth round match at the US Open to crush Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
Murray was impressive from the outset. After a couple of shared holds of serve, the Scot reeled off the next eight games with brutal intensity and focus that Dimitrov was unable to break. Murray stayed aggressive and didn't let Dimitrov get any kind of rhythm or control in the match. Murray's crushing returns and impenetrable defense left the world number twenty-four with only four holds of serve in the match. The 2012 champion knew how important a good performance was here, and he sent a warning message to the rest of the field with such a clinical beatdown of a tricky opponent.
Flying Start
Dimitrov looked to get off to a quick start, he closed down the net and rushed Murray and with the help of a couple of loose shots from his opponent he earned himself two break points in the opening game. Murray finally found a first serve and hammered down two big unreturned serves in a row to get out of trouble. Dimitrov held his serve easily to put the pressure quickly back on Murray. The Scot responded with two aces and a great run down of a Dimitrov volley to take the game with a passing shot winner.
Murray then went on the offensive. The Brit was standing well inside the baseline to return the second serve of Dimitrov, not allowing him any time. A brutal thirty-two shot rally of massive groundstrokes went Murray's way and he found himself at 15-30. Dimitrov fought hard to win the next two points and find the game point, but Murray hit a huge return and rushed into the net to erase it quickly. A double fault from Dimitrov gave Murray his first break point, and the Bulgarian hit an overhead smash into the net to hand the early break to Murray.
The Scot started to get himself fired up as he held his serve easily. His positive energy and complete focus helped him to the double break. Dimitrov was having difficulty finding any rhythm as Murray's defense completely absorbed his powerful hitting and in trying to find a way through he only found himself with a lot of unforced errors. Murray served out the first set easily, hitting the fastest serve of his career at 141 miles per hour as he did so to take the first set 6-1.
Continued Intensity
Murray started the second set as he left off in the first with another break of the Dimitrov serve. The Bulgarian was still trying to find something that would get past Murray's top form but his reactions and defense were too good to give anything away and he eased his way to an early break. A couple of loose points from Murray gave Dimitrov a chance to break straight back as he found himself at 0-30, but the Scot quickly found his focus and held for a 2-0 lead. Dimitrov was still unable to string enough good points together to get a hold of serve. He found himself with three game points in the third game of the set but Murray was unwilling to give the Bulgarian any kind of hope and his relentless defense and a few errors from Dimitrov gave the Brit the double break.
Just as Murray looked to be running away with the set he had a temporary lapse of intensity that left Dimitrov with a break point. A brave drop shot saved the first, but Dimitrov pushed through from deuce with some well-worked points and better use of his backhand slice to take his second break point. Dimitrov's good spell disappeared as quickly as it arrived as Murray refocused and from 0-30 down, and he stole the double break back with the help of a double fault from Dimitrov. Murray shouted at himself on the changeover to focus, and he did just that as he took to the court again and held his serve with ease.
Another mini-battle on the Dimitrov serve left Murray with a couple of set points, but big forehands from the Bulgarian gave him his first hold of serve since the second game of the match. The Brit started out well in serving for the set and he had double set point, but Dimitrov fought hard to get to deuce by making use of his powerful one-handed backhand. An amazing point at the net left Murray with his fifth set point and he took it to race to a 6-1, 6-2 lead.
Clinical Finish
Dimitrov had two game points in his opening service game of the third set. As the Bulgarian hurried into the net, Murray pushed him straight back to the baseline with a perfect defensive lob to save the first game point. A crushing return to get on the front foot saved the second and a bad forehand miss from Dimitrov gave Murray the lead in the third set. Murray's lead looked to be in danger as Dimitrov earned himself a couple of breakpoints, but those big serves that had been getting him out of trouble throughout the match helped him again as he held serve to keep his lead intact. The world number two was giving nothing away as he broke serve again and held to race to a 4-0 lead.
Dimitrov was finding himself in rallies too often and Murray knew exactly how to work him around the court to draw the error. In order just to win a point against Murray in such great form he had to either hope for an unforced error or play the perfect point, and it wasn't happening very often. A slight let up in Murray's intensity gave Dimitrov his first hold of the set. Murray continued to hold his serve and erase any signs of danger quickly.
The Brit had opportunities to close out the match as Dimitrov served to stay in it, but big serving got him out of a 0-30 hole and he got just his fourth hold of the match. It came too late and as light rain began to fall, Murray served it out and booked his place in the quarterfinals with a brutal beatdown.