Bulgarian tennis star Grigor Dimitrov is through to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open after knocking out third seed Dominic Thiem in straight sets.
The 18th seed eased to a 6-4, 6-4, 6-0, victory in the Rod Laver Arena against the lacklustre Austrian who looked far from the player who beat Nick Kyrgios in five sets two days ago. Dimitrov had all the answers to everything that was asked of him by Thiem with him having to come from behind in the first two sets. Producing a total of 10 aces and 25 winners. Although the most telling factor of the match was Thiem’s unforced errors count which registered at 41.
“Throughout every season you have one of those matches where you just keep the ball rolling and I think today was just one of those days,” Dimitrov said during his on-court interview.
“I was entirely trying to focus on what I was doing and the gameplan I had.
“He might have actually struggled with something which I don’t know, but I want to give myself credit for staying focused and composed throughout the three sets.
“He’s an unbelievable player and a great friend off the court so I’m not going to be that humble. Of course I’m very happy to be in the quarter-finals.”
Historically Dimitrov has been a problematic player for Thiem to play against and he lead their head-to-head 3-2 prior to the latest encounter. Although this time round Dimitrov looked the fresher of the two with his opponent making a series of uncharacteristic mistakes and lacked the usual rhythm in his game.
The first two sets of the match were a case of deja vu. In both of them former world No.3 Dimitrov found himself a break down early on before battling back to take them by breaking Thiem twice with relative ease. Continuing his run of not dropping a set so far in the tournament.
In full control of the match, Dimitrov raced towards the finish line with his opponent looking completely lost on the court. Perhaps the effects of a five-set encounter that two took place two days ago was taking its effect on Thiem. In the decider the world NO.21 won 24 out of 30 points to secure the comprehensive victory.
It is the first time the 29-year-old has defeated a top three player on the Tour since Roger Federer at the 2019 US Open. He is through to the last eight in Melbourne Park for the fourth time in his career where he faces Russian underdog Aslan Karatsev.
