In demolition of Grigor Dimitrov, a swarming Andy Murray makes his contender case at U.S. Open

NEW YORK—”Come on!” Grigor Dimitrov cried, halfheartedly, after double faulting to go down 0-30 in the first game of the second set to Andy Murray on Monday night. This wasn’t an angry “come on,” let alone a celebratory one. It was more of a long moan of disbelief at what was happening to him. Unfortunately for Dimitrov, it was only going to get worse from there.

A few games later, Dimitrov missed a forehand into the net at 30-30 and let out a long “Awwwwww!”; this time he couldn’t hold back the anger. Soon after that, he missed an easy volley. When the ball came back over the net, Dimitrov tried to kick it, soccer style, but missed it entirely and nearly fell over.

By the middle of the second set, the fans in Ashe, desperate to see something competitive, had begun to cheer any sign of life, any winning point, for Dimitrov. It didn’t help. In the third, when Dimitrov’s backhand continued to find the net, and the games continued to pile up in Murray’s favor, some boos started to cascade down from the upper reaches of Ashe.

Dimitrov had talked beforehand about how much better he was feeling about his game. By the end of Murray’s 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 demolition, there wasn’t much of that game left. Murray had rendered it completely ineffective. He would win 94 points to Dimitrov’s 61; would hit 28 winners to Dimitrov’s 13; would commit 23 errors to Dimitrov’s 43; would smack nine aces to Dimitrov’s two; would win 79 percent of his first-serve points to Dimitrov’s 52. The only positive the Bulgarian could take away was that he somehow made the match last two hours.

Murray’s serve was as powerful as it has ever been. He routinely hit the first one 130 m.p.h. or higher, and his second ball had more weight and depth than it has in the past. From the ground, Murray’s usual strengths—his movement, his consistency, his defense, his running forehand, his lob—were stronger and sharper than usual. He played with a compact, slashing style, and was able to turn even the most desperate-looking retrievals into offensive shots. Can a single person swarm over a court? That’s what Murray looked like he was doing on Monday night.

“I played very well, and made very few unforced errors,” Murray said, in what qualifies as a chest-thumping boast for him. “I made it very hard on Grigor.”

Murray says he’s playing the best tennis of his career, and that this performance was “up there” among his finest in 2016. In his four matches at the Open so far, he has dropped one strange set to Paolo Lorenzi. Next for Murray will be Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals. Murray leads their head to head 7-1, and has won their last four meetings. One of those wins, in Davis Cup play early this season, went five sets.

Yet as well as Murray played, this match doesn’t say anything about whether he can do the one thing he hasn’t done this year: beat Novak Djokovic at a major. Whatever Murray did against Dimitrov, it will be an entirely different situation, mentally and physically, against Djokovic. But this is as sharp as anyone has looked at the Open thus far.