Andy Murray takes on Grigor Dimitrov for a place in the US Open quarter-final
British world No 2 has won six of their nine meetings
Wednesday 7 September 2016 16:35, UK
Andy Murray continues his quest to reach all four Grand Slam finals in the same year when he takes on a resurgent Grigor Dimitrov for a place in the last eight of the US Open.
The talented Bulgarian has yet to make it past the round of 16 at any Grand Slam since storming into his first major semi-final at Wimbledon in 2014.
His ranking, once in the top 10, plummeted all the way to 40th this summer, not long after he lost his opening match at five straight tournaments.
It was quite the reversal when he won four times in the same event at Cincinnati shortly before arriving at Flushing Meadows and they all came against players ranked among the top 31 in the world - most notably Stan Wawrinka. Although he wound up losing in three sets in the semi-finals to former US Open champion Marin Cilic, Dimitrov's surge continues.
The 25-year-old, once nicknamed "Baby Fed" for his game's resemblance to that of Roger Federer, is in the round of 16 at a major for the first time since the 2015 Australian Open
"I fell in love with tennis again. It's simple as that," Dimitrov said. "It's not only because I've been winning matches or anything like that. It's because I started to enjoy the process again.
"I'm enjoying the work again. I'm enjoying waking up in the morning early to come to practice. I'm enjoying doing the ice baths again."
He appointed Murray's former coach Dani Vallverdu this summer and the improvement has been notable.
Murray and Vallverdu split in November 2014, five months after the Briton had made Amelie Mauresmo his lead coach.
"We're still getting to know each other. First of all he's a great guy," Dimitrov said of Vallverdu.
"I know how to play tennis. Now it's more the strategic way, how you're going to prepare for big matches, big tournaments.
"So far I think we've been doing a great job. Just simplicity, that's the key right now. Do your stuff, work, go out there, give 100 per cent each match."
Dimitrov has yet to face a seeded player at the tournament and now meets an opponent who has won 36 of his last 38 matches.
Murray has also won his last 26 meetings with players ranked outside the top 20, but the last opponent to defeat him was Dimitrov. That came in Miami in March where they played three close sets.
Murray, 29, has been in remarkable form since and kept his golden summer moving forward after triumphs at Wimbledon and the Rio Olympics.
Although the British world No 2 endured a surprise defeat to the Bulgarian at Wimbledon two years ago he has won six of their nine meetings.
"He's a very good player, obviously. He has good feel, moves well," Murray said.
"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 playing at.
"I expect it to be very hard. I'll be ready for that. I'll need to play better than Saturday if I want to win."
The Scot has still only dropped one set so far this year at Flushing Meadows and that came in his last match where he was flummoxed and frustrated, making 63 unforced errors against Italy's wily veteran Paolo Lorenzi.
Also in action:
Serena and Venus Williams, the sisters with 29 Grand Slams between them, will try to maintain a collision course when they play their fourth-round matches.
World No 1 and defending champion Serena, trying to break the record of 22 major titles she shares with Steffi Graf, plays No 52 Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan.
Victory would mark her 308th career victory in majors, lifting her past Roger Federer for most among men or women in the Open era.
Juan Martin del Potro looks to second US Open title after Olympic heroics
Sixth seed Venus, twice the champion in New York, faces Karolina Pliskova, the big-serving 10th seed from the Czech Republic.
A win for both would put them one win away from a semi-final meeting at Flushing Meadows.
Former champion Juan Martin del Potro, in the fourth round for the first time since 2012 after three operations on his left wrist, plays eighth seed Austrian Dominic Thiem.
Third seed Stan Wawrinka, sixth seed Kei Nishikori and women's fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska are also in fourth-round action.
You can follow all the action when the US Open resumes on Monday from 4pm in our live blog, which you can find here.
