[Sir Panda]

On a day where time is of the essence, Andy Murray marched through to the quarter finals of the US Open with a resounding 6-2 6-3 6-3 victory over the homegrown wild card, Donald Young. Under the unfamiliar New York sunshine, Murray played consistently enough to outwit his inexperienced opponent, who struggled to execute his gameplan with any degree of accuracy.

Resuming at 1-2 down in the first set, Murray was completely dominant from the start, hitting with great length, targeting the frail backhand of Young and serving efficiently in the tricky conditions. The British number one seemed to recognise the importance of time, and was relentless in both service and return games. Donald Young can consider this tournament as his breakthrough event, but he looked unable to cope with Murray, who probably wasn’t even firing on all cylinders himself.

The second set was somewhat more bizarre. Young became more adventurous and aggressive, and there were four consecutive breaks of serve at the midpoint of the set. The DecoTurf surface has been castigated for being sluggish this year, and the weather of the last two days seems to have worsened it.

Read more (266 words)

This ultimately, favoured the Scot, as his superior point construction came to the fore, and Young’s lack of patience resulted in a plethora of errors from the American’s racquet. Murray, on the other hand, tightened up his game at the appropriate moment, and he edged a close second set, 6-3.

There may have been a small crack appearing over on Louis Armstrong court, but there were more visible chinks opening up inside Donald Young’s mind as the third set encroached. The wild card has used his forehand so effectively in victories against Wawrinka and Chela last week, but such is Murray’s agility and defence, that Young’s winner count was minimal. His baseball cap may have rested at a jaunty angle, but it was the fourth seed who was creating all the angles with his scalpel-like backhand.

Murray broke at 4-3, and served out to cap a quick victory that was so badly needed, no matter how scrappy the performance. According to the forecasts, the weather is expected to worsen in just a few hours time, so Murray will be delighted with the rapid nature of his victory. The 'incredible task' lay out before the Briton may just have become slightly easier to achieve.

In the quarter-final, Murray will face either Gilles Simon or John Isner. Quizzed after the match had finished, Murray opted for an encounter with Simon, citing a willingness to be able to control proceedings.  Murray has impressive head to head records against both players, and must surely be favourite to reach yet another semi-final of a Grand Slam in a remarkable 2011 season.

[Bevc]

My goodness Andrew - talk about hot off the press (though I do realise you only have a couple of sentences thus far ).

From the beeb:

Andy Murray: "I'm very happy, it's getting very warm now, very humid. I'm pleased to get off and get some rest because it's a long few days ahead. I had good length today, I was very consistent from back. I could've made it easer by serving better and I'll go out and hit some serves this afternoon. I'd probably rather play Gilles next because against him you have more control - again John it can come down to a few points and he has a huge serve. But Gilles doesn't give you anything so I'll have to play very well to beat either of them."

[Ruthie]

i just cant see him winning the us open with the forehand that was on display in that match.....weather or not it was a ploy to save energy i dont know but.... needs to raise his level.

Yes he does need to raise his level but that's what the best players do.  Job done in what have been difficult circumstances.  Let's just be pleased he's through and that his next opponent is still slugging it out.

[lashurst]

My goodness Andrew - talk about hot off the press (though I do realise you only have a couple of sentences thus far ).

From the beeb:

Andy Murray: "I'm very happy, it's getting very warm now, very humid. I'm pleased to get off and get some rest because it's a long few days ahead. I had good length today, I was very consistent from back. I could've made it easer by serving better and I'll go out and hit some serves this afternoon. I'd probably rather play Gilles next because against him you have more control - again John it can come down to a few points and he has a huge serve. But Gilles doesn't give you anything so I'll have to play very well to beat either of them."

Thanks for the quote from Andy. I didnt hear the interview, the comms were yapping away.

[syc23]

Did just enough to go through without burning too much energy. Happy watching Isner and Simon grind out a 5 set marathon. A 7 hour match should do the trick

[deb]

i just cant see him winning the us open with the forehand that was on display in that match.....weather or not it was a ploy to save energy i dont know but.... needs to raise his level.

oh i think he will, he has to get back into it with all the delays and waiting, he was never going to be firing on all cilinders today.

[lashurst]

Very nice to have a nerve free time:clap:  Excellent Andy's match was done and dusted so quickly. On we go to the quarters our loins girded and our gin ready

Well wine or scotch for me. Never liked gin for some reason..

[Bevc]

Yep, Isner took the 3rd set.

Match stats for Andy's match.