Grigor Dimitrov’s marathon second round match at the French Open on Wednesday is one he won’t forget for a long time.
The Bulgarian fourth seed required almost four-and-a-half hours to defeat world No.57 Jared Donaldson 6-7 (2), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 10-8. Producing a total of 17 aces and breaking his rivals serve six times. The roller coaster encounter was a physical test for both men with Donaldson struggling with cramping towards the business end of the match.
During the clash, the American tried to outsmart Dimitrov with the use of an underarm serve. Sparking flashbacks to 1989 when Michael Chang famously outsmarted Ivan Lendl at the French Open with the same tactic to win. Unfortunately for Donaldson, he wasn’t able to follow in Chung’s footsteps. Although he did manage to win a point to nudge ahead 7-6 in the decisive set.
“I would never try it if I was feeling 100 percent and stuff,” said Donaldson. “But obviously Grigor was playing so far back on the return that I felt like, ‘You know, maybe it’s just something that I’ll try.’ He obviously wasn’t expecting it, you know what I mean? It’s kind of a cheeky way to get a point.”
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Speaking about the unorthodox shot following his win, 27-year-old Dimitrov was not frustrated or angered by the tactic. In fact, the ATP World Tour Finals champion endorsed it by saying that ‘it’s great for the game.’
“It was beautiful, right?” Said Dimitrov.
“I’ve said it before. I think it’s great and it’s in the game. Simple as that. He (Donaldson) wanted to use something different to kind of try to put me off guard with that, but okay.
“I know why he did it. He was hurting big time. But, of course, great for him for trying that. It’s never easy to have to serve underhand.”
Despite the usual service motion of players throwing the ball up in the air before hitting it, there are no rules against underarm serving in professional tennis. The International Tennis Federation rulebook states that a player must stand behind the service line and hit the ball before it bounces. Although the rule doesn’t stipulate how the player must hit the ball.
On Friday, Dimitrov will play Spain’s Fernando Verdasco in the third round of the tournament. He is bidding to reach the last 16 of the tournament for the first time on his eighth attempt.
