This year’s Miami Open Grigor Dimitrov overcame Terence Atmane 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 to reach the fourth round at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia at Rome Foro Italico for the first time since 2020.
Atmane saved a break point in the first game. Dimitrov broke serve in the third game at 30 and held serve at love to take a 3-1 lead. Atmane broke back in the sixth game at deuce to draw level to 3-3. Atmane saved a break point in the 11th game to hold serve. Both players held on serve en route to tie-break. Atmane went up a 2-0 with an early mini-break in the tie-break, but Dimitrov won seven of the next eight points with three mini-breaks to take the mini-break 7-3. Dimitrov went up a break in the sixth game and sealed the win on his third match point after 1 hour and 44 minutes.
“For the past five days I have been playing lefties, so it will be nice to ge a righty, but it is what is. It was a very difficult match. Probably one of the most difficult matches this year. The conditions were so difficult. I rolled my ankle on my side, there was not much clay left. You have to adapt and today that is what I did. I played an OK game and that was enough but at the same time I am not happy with where my game is at, but I keep winning matches like this and that is what counts”, said Dimitrov.
Dimitrov set up a fourth round match against Taylor Fritz, who beat Sebastian Korda 6-3 6-4. Fritz has improved his record on clay this season after reaching the final in Munich and the semifinal at the Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid.
Fritz won 90% of his first serve points and hit 16 winners to improve to 2-0 in his head-to-head matches against Korda.
Fritz earned the only break point in the eighth game to win the first set 6-3. The second set went on serve until the seventh game, when Fritz broke serve at love to take a 4-3 lead. Korda saved three match points, as he was serving to stay in the match in the ninth game. Fritz served out the win on his sixth match point.
Portugal’s Nuno Borges saved a match point to beat Francesco Passaro 4-6 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (7-4) after 3 hours and 5 minutes. Borges has become the first Portuguese player to reach the Round of 16 in a Masters 1000 tournament.
Borges broke serve at love in the third game and held serve at 15 to take a 3-1 lead. Passaro converted his third break point in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. Passaro sealed the first set 6-4 with a break at 15 in the 10th game.
Borges earned the only two break points in the fifth game of the second set but Passaro saved them. Both players went on serve en route to tie-break. Borges went up a 3-0 lead, but Passaro pulled the mini-break back to draw level to 3-3. Passaro earned a match point at 7-6, but Borges saved it with a forehand. The Portuguese player sealed the second set 10-8 on his fourth set point.
The third set also went on serve en route to tie-break. Borges went up a mini-break to take a 4-3 lead. Passaro pulled back on serve for 4-5, but Borges won the final two points to clinch the tie-break 7-4.
Borges will take on either Alexander Zverev or Luciano Darderi.
Thiago Monteiro beat Miomir Kecmanovic 6-2 4-6 7-6 (8-6) to become the first Brazilian player to reach the fourth round of a Masters 1000 tournament since Thomaz Bellucci in Rome. Monteiro will take on either Ben Shelton or Zhang Zhizhen in the fourth round.
