Tonight:
4°c
Andy Murray confirmed his status as the best returner of serve in men's tennis by totally negating Taylor Dent's power with an awesome display of eye-hand coordination at the US Open last night — Andre Agassi was the last player to have had the same ability to see an opponent's serve early and return it with interest.
The best example came in the second set of his 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 third-round victory when Dent delivered a thumping 145mph effort which the world No2 blasted back past him to the astonishment of the centre court crowd.
After having his dream shattered by Murray, the American admitted: “He made me look as if I was serving underhand at times out there and he is the best in the world at breaking guys.
“He doesn't miss. I served probably below average for me but he was just able to put stuff by me. I tried to mix up my spins, mix up my paces and give him different looks.
“I think he's number one in the world at returning. He's a quality player and if your execution isn't matching his, it's going to go like that.”
Murray revealed after the match that coach Miles Maclagan stands inside the court in training to fire down serves much harder than he would normally be facing and said: “I practice it loads and have Miles serve at me from just behind the service line. That's why I am used to returning hard serves.”
Even though Dent is short of big-match tennis, he earned the right to be in the third round and his serve and volley style is so rare it can upset even the best players.
However, Murray is now at the very top of the game and was hardly fazed by Dent's net charging, producing a full range of passing shots and he then threw in a lob to take the final point — courtesy of the video challenge system which showed his effort had just caught the outside of the line.
Murray, who will sign a lucrative new clothing sponsorship deal with adidas after the US Open, now takes on 16th seed Marin Cilic, of Croatia. He showed against Dent why the German sports company want the 22-year-old to fill the void in their tennis ranks created by the retiring Marat Safin.
As the world No2, Murray will be their point man in tennis with Novak Djokovic also in the same stable plus Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and the company's agreement to let him continue to wear patches belonging to his other sponsors was a key factor in clinching Murray, who has been with Fred Perry since 2004.
Murray is already financially set for life thanks to the winnings and sponsorship money banked at such a tender age and while that is a comforting thought for the Briton, his only motivation is to become a major champion.He will hold onto his current ranking by ensuring he finishes at least one round ahead of Rafael Nadal and as they are due to meet in the semi-finals it becomes a great sub-plot in a tournament that has Roger Federer seemingly cruising into another final as Andy Roddick, the fifth seed, was dumped out on Saturday.
He was in Federer's half of the draw and it will probably fall to Djokovic to try and beat the Swiss superstar in the semi-finals. Federer defeated Murray in last year's final and the men are seeded to repeat that contest.
Murray was so dominant against Dent that he gave up just three points on his own serve in the second set and had only made 12 errors going into what turned out to be the final set.
With actress Sienna Miller and golfing great Nick Faldo amongst the typically rowdy night time crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium, Murray accepted the challenge Dent offered with those 145mph serves which hammered into the back of the court with destructive power.
The Scot has been criticised for being too passive in previous rounds but with Dent offering a regular target as he rushed to the net behind every big serve, Murray was able to attack the lines either side of the American, who has returned from two serious back surgeries which saved his career.
In the end, Murray sent out a very loud message to those who may have doubted his ability to win this event.
Cilic booked his place in the fourth round against Murray with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 win over Denis Istomin, of Uzbekistan, and will also bring plenty of serving power to tomorrow's clash.
Fernando Gonzalez, the 11th seed, defeated 17th-seed Tomas Berdych, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 and No9 Gilles Simon, of France, retired because of a knee injury while trailing Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Ferrero will now meet Juan Martin del Potro, who is favourite to be Murray's quarter-final opponent. The Argentine accounted for Austria's Daniel Koellerer 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
