TENNIS – Grigor Dimitrov fought back from a break down in the decider to size his first title of the season, second of his career, and fly to ATP number 16, following his 7-6(1), 3-6, 7-6(5) win over Kevin Anderson.
Grigor Dimitrov fought back from a break down in the decider to size his first title of the season, second of his career, and fly to ATP number 16, following his 7-6(1), 3-6, 7-6(5) win over Kevin Anderson.
The Bulgarian needed almost three hours and all his fighting temper to overcome his big South African opponent, whose serve was on fire with 13 aces, as well as 46 winners.
With no one of the two players being able to break his opponent’s serve in the first set, only a tiebreak could decide it. A terrific display of all his potential gave the set to Dimitrov in much shorter time than everyone expected as he left only one point to Anderson.
However, the push to capture the first set proved costly to the Bulgarian in the early games of the second set.
Anderson managed to break Dimitrov’s serve for the first time in the match and from a 3-0 lead did not give any chance to the youngsters for a comeback.
The history seemed to be about to repeat itself in the third set, as Anderson pushed hard on the throttle to take a break lead, but this time he could not withhold Dimitrov’s comeback from his position of advantage.
With a hideous double-fault in the eight game the South African handed the break back to his rival and once again the match was forced to a tiebreak.
On five all in the deciding tiebreak, Anderson felt all the pressure of the moment and missed chances as he saw his backhand flying out to give Dimitrov a chance to serve for the match.
The Bulgarian’s hands did not shake and he sized the moment by taking the point, the tiebreak and a fantastic win.
Both players will now move to the United States, where the Master 1000 of Indian Wells is due to start. With a favourable draw, both can go deep, especially Dimitrov, who is finally proving to be more than a beautiful player to watch, he is becoming a winner.