By Chris Oddo | Monday September 5, 2016

There are one-sided victories and there are epic beatdowns. Andy Murray’s 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 shellacking of No. 22-seeded Grigor Dimitrov on Monday night in New York should be filed among the latter.

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"I played extremely well," said Murray. "I think tactically I played a good match, I served very well when I was behind in the games."

Murray was flawless from start to finish in winning for the 26th time in his last 27 matches, and he never gave an inch to the Bulgarian. He reeled off eight consecutive games from 1-1 to take a 6-1, 3-0 lead and he coasted comfortable for the rest of the match, dropping only four more games against his helpless opponent.

It was a strong statement from Murray, who is closing in on Novak Djokovic in the Race to London standings and could arguably be considered the ATP’s player of the year if he manages to win the title at the U.S. Open. Murray has reached the final of all three majors this year, and he’s won titles at Wimbledon and the Olympics.

Murray finished with 28 winners against 23 unforced errors, while Dimitrov was held to just 13 winners against 43 unforced.

The Bulgarian came into the match having won three of nine against Murray, including a memorable upset of Murray at Wimbledon in 2014 when the Scotsman was the defending champion. Dimitrov had also taken their last meeting in three sets in Miami.

But on Monday night in Queens it was Murray, Murray and more Murray. The Scot was devastating from the baseline and he frequently dropped back a few feet behind the line, scurrying about and using remarkable consistency and depth to move Dimitrov to and fro until he eventually yielded.

Murray also served effectively, saving five of six break points and dropping only eight first-serve points.

He even registered a 141 MPH serve.

"I've never hit over 140," said Murray. "I think that was lucky I only did it once, I'm not expecting to do it again."

It was a flawless performance, one that will no doubt buoy the confidence of the World No. 2 as he prepares to face No. 6-seeded Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals.

Murray has won seven of eight meetings against Nishikori, including the last three.