Andy Murray knew what he would be up against, he dealt with the on-rushing bull with a matador’s flourish and reached the fourth round of the US Open in the early hours of this morning with as convincing a night’s work as he would have wished for.
The No 2 seed defeated Taylor Dent, the American, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in 90 minutes, staying calm under the lash of Dent’s desire to cover the net as quickly as he could, as often as he could, as broadly as he could.
It is not easy to remain steadfast throughout. Dent plays the angles cleverly, takes a brutish cut at the ball and sometimes Murray missed a couple of what might have looked easy shots for a man of his calibre.
But, in the end, Dent was worn down and there is no one who wears an opponent down with the murderous calm of the British No 1.
In the last 16, he will meet Marin Cilic, the Croatian whom he defeated at the same juncture at the French Open in May. Cilic, like the Scot, had a a relatively comfortable time of it, defeating Denis Istomin, of Uzbekistan, in straight sets.
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“[Cilic] has a big serve and moves pretty well for a big guy. I have to be on my game,” Murray said. “It’s going to be a tough match.
“I will have to return well against him and be solid from the back of the court because I’m not going to get many free points on my own serve.”
The No 16 seed moves a great deal better on hard courts than he does on clay but if Murray’s eye is in as demonstrably as it was against Dent, he ought to account for him.
The statistics bear witness to Murray’s solidity in the eye of the storm, and he even served more aces: seven to Dent’s couple. As the edge went off Dent’s serve late in the match, as he knew how defiant Murray was from the back of the court, so he was picked off ever more easily.
Though the 28-year-old has done better than he could ever have imagined after re-constructive back surgery that saved his career, the route back to the very top remains decidedly steep. He is giving it his best shot, though.
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Murray and Dent had been kept waiting for much longer than ought to have been the case by a women’s match between Flavia Penetta and Vera Zvonereva in which the Italian saved six match points in the second set and took the third 6-0. It was a long, frustrating wait in the locker room for the chance to come out and display their wares on a cool, breezy night.
In these trying circumstances, it would have been easy for Murray to have come out cold but he won the first nine points of the match and seemed to be well on his way, only for Dent to break back in the third game and rouse the crowd on Arthur Ashe Stadium with a couple of cannonball 145 mph aces.
But Murray has such a wonderful touch on the return of serve — it swerves and dips — and Dent was having to play his volleys from off his laces. It takes an awful lot out of a big man to have to keep stooping so low. In total, Murray got 88 per cent of his returns in play and against anyone, that is impressive indeed. Murray’s own serve was broken just once, in that third game of the match. From there on in, it was tremendously secure.
By the time the third set rolled around, a distinct air of the inevitable had descended. Dent was coming forward more in hope than expectation, the crowd was stilled and Murray was into yet another second week of a grand slam tournament.
“I returned really, really well and that was probably the key to the match,” Murray said afterwards. “I managed to finish the match off well and served well.
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“I’ve always liked playing against serve-and-volleyers. I used to practise a lot with my brother and he used to serve and volley when we were young and that probably helped me. I just try and take the ball in front and I managed to do that well tonight.”