By Chris Oddo | Thursday August 20, 2015
Andy Murray saved a match point and rallied from a set and two breaks down to defeat Grigor Dimitrov in a thriller on Thursday night in Cincinnati.
Photo Source: Rob Carr/Getty
Confident athletes approach crunch time with a light in their eyes. In others, doubt leads to indecision. With margins paper thin and pressure elevated, truths get revealed.
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Andy Murray stared down the pressure and nudged himself to hard-fought, 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-5 victory over Grigor Dimitrov on Thursday night in Cincinnati, saving a match point to set up a quarterfinal with France’s Richard Gasquet on Friday.
The truth? Andy Murray is a bona fide contender for this year’s U.S. Open crown, and with each confidence-building victory his chances look that much better.
Nestled into a tiny showcourt in the northeast corner of the grounds, fans queued 20 deep at the entrances and crowded into the bleachers as Dimitrov jumped out to an early lead, claimed the opening set, then rolled to a seemingly invincible 6-4, 4-1 lead.
But Murray sensed and capitalized on a drop in the level of the Bulgarian’s game and quickly hit back to reclaim both breaks.
“I think one of the games, maybe 4-1 in the second set, helped. I felt like he was a little bit tentative there,” Murray said. “Down a couple of breaks. It's not impossible to get back there. I was making a lot of returns, so, you know, I knew I could get some opportunities if I could hang in. He played a bad game at 4-1, and that helped me.”
There were loose moments and Dimitrov did display some apprehension with the lead in set two, but for the most part the rallies were electric in this match. The crowd, buzzing from start to finish, appreciated every cat-and-mouse exchange and steaming rally.
“I always enjoy playing on these smaller courts because it's always packed from the first point to the last,” Murray said. “You know, sometimes that isn't the case with the bigger stadiums. It can sometimes be a little bit flat, the atmosphere, when the crowd is half full or whatever. But tonight from the first point to the last the crowd were there. That's another thing that probably helped me, as well, a bit in the end: there was a good atmosphere."
With the momentum on his side, Murray claimed the first break in the final set. But Dimitrov summoned some magic (he had plenty on this night, despite the loss) and surged ahead, earning a chance to serve for the match at 5-3. That failed miserably. He was broken to 15 in a game book-ended by double faults, but after some fine play in the ensuing game he found himself looking at a match point with Murray serving.
The Bulgarian got the second serve he wanted from Murray but went for too much with the forehand return and sailed it long. He’d battle back to deuce later in the game, but Murray held for 5-5 when Dimitrov botched an overhead that he probably could have let go long for an error.
Margins. Thin margins. They worked in Murray’s favor tonight, just as they have been throughout this current eight-match winning streak that has featured five Top-20 wins.
It’s a run that has taken him to the No. 2 ranking and thrust him into the spotlight at the hottest player in men’s tennis.
For Dimitrov, despite the opportunities missed, there was hope wrapped inside the lamentation. “Obviously too many chances,” he said. “Up a set, 4-1, serving for the match. Just too many opportunities.” He added: I'm positive. A lot of good things that I thought I did good. You know, off to the Open now.”