Bulgarian 13th seed Grigor Dimitrov sent a big message to the rest of the draw after he defeated former semi-finalist Marcos Baghdatis in serene style 6-3, 6-2, 6-1.
In a near perfect match from Dimitrov, the Australian Open semi-finalist dismissed a former Australian Open finalist in Baghdatis in under an hour and forty-five minutes.
Remarkably, it took Dimitrov nearly two sets to commit his first unforced error such was the control that he exerted over the match.
Baghdatis offered little in Dimitrov service games. The only time the Cypriot really threatened was a situation of Dimitrov’s own making early in the third set. Dimitrov hit three double-faults to give Baghdatis some break point opportunities which were quickly saved.
Dimitrov then dropped just one more game as Baghdatis’ challenge quickly faded. Dimitrov’s next match is against either the United States’ John Isner or Israeli Dudi Sela.
Dimitrov looks a far more rounded player than the one who was beaten in four sets by the United States’ Steve Johnson in the third round last year, and will expect to make the fourth round.
Assuming that Dimitrov is able to win in the third round, his fourth round opponent could be Mischa Zverev or 7-time winner Roger Federer.
Former wimbledon quarter-finalist and Roland Garros finalist David Ferrer was another to make it into the third round when his opponent Steve Darcis retired from their second round match 3-0, ret. It represents Ferrer’s joint best run at a grand slam this year, having lost in the third round at the Australian Open, and the second round at the French Open.
