Grigor Dimitrov came back from one set down to beat Marton Fucsovics 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-1) 6-2 on a sunny day at the Australian Open in Melbourne.
Dimitrov was broken in the opening game of the first set and lost the first eight points. Fucsovics earned the second break in the seventh game. Fucsovics pulled one of the breaks back in the seventh game on his fifth break point for 2-5. Fucsovics served out the first set 6-4 at 15.
Fucsovics went up a break in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. Dimitrov broke straight back to draw level to 2-2. The Bulgarian player broke again in the sixth game en route to levelling the contest.
Neither player was able to break serve in the third game and went on serve en route to the tie-break. Dimitrov dropped just one point and earned three mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-1.
Dimitrov broke Fucsovics twice in the fourth and eighth games and made just six unforced errors to seal the win 6-2 with a break in the eighth game.
Dimitrov hit 39 winners to 55 unforced errors.
Dimitrov is currently number 13 player in the ATP Ranking and is less than 200 points away from a return to the top 10 for the first time since 2018. He has won 11 of his past 12 matches dating back to the final of the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris Bercy last November.
Dimitrov has drawn level to 2-2 in his four head-to-head matches against Fucsovics. The Bulgarian player set up a second round match against home favourite Thanasi Kokkinakis, who battled past Sebastian Ofner 7-6 (7-1) 2-6 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 7-6 (10-8).
“Overall it was a good match. I think for sure I could have done a lot of things better, but it’s always tricky when you start a Grand Slam. I have been doing a lot of work prior to this tournament as well. I was hoping that I would have played a better first match, but it is how it is. Yoy need to go through those matches”, said Dimitrov.
