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© Reuters
Grigor Dimitrov is a quarter-finalist of the Vienna tournament, after he defeated fifth in the world Stefanos Tsitsipas – 6: 7 (5), 6: 4, 6: 3. This is the Bulgarian’s biggest success in 2020, which so far he hasn’t achieved a win over a Top 10 player this season.
The meeting in Vienna lasted 2.15 hours.
This was only the second match between Dimitrov and his Greek rival, as the Bulgarian managed to bounce back from the “Roland Garros” defeat less than a month ago.
In the next round, Dimitrov will face Daniel Evans of Great Britain. He defeated the host representative Yuri Radionov after 7: 5, 6: 3. Against Britain’s Dimitrov he has a positive balance with three successes in four games.
Dimitrov managed to emerge from a difficult situation in the match after losing the first set after a tiebreak in which he led 5-0.
“Despite the first set, I kept believing, being positive. You always have to be prepared and I think I focused on the important things in the match. I hope I have enough time to recover for my next match,” Dimitrov said after the match.
Tsitsipas registered 15 aces, but that did not help him congratulate himself on the success. Dimitrov, for his part, finished with five aces, but also five double faults. However, the Bulgarian had 36 winners and 27 unprovoked errors, which tipped the balance in his favor.
In the first set, the result was game by game, with no progress. A tiebreak was reached, in which Dimitrov quickly went ahead with 5: 0. There was an immediate collapse in the Bulgarian’s game, and Tsitsipas took advantage. He scored seven consecutive points and led the set for 51 minutes of play.
The dramatic loss of the first set motivated the former No. 3 and showed a different game in the next two parts. Dimitrov made a key breakthrough in the fifth game of the second half to take the lead. The Bulgarian closed it with 6: 4 and scored the match in the decisive third part.
In it, Tsitsipas cracked again in the fifth game. The errors of the fifth in the world became more frequent and Dimitrov played at a constant level. He went ahead with 5: 3, after which he recorded another advance to close out the match.
