(New York-Flushing Meadows) - Former US Open semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov claims a record 450th tour-level win of his career by prevailing over world No. 6 Andrey Rublev in five sets and reaching the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows on Sunday.
Making his 14th consecutive appearance at the US Open, world No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov edges sixth seed Andrey Rublev 6-3, 7-6(3), 1-6, 3-6, 6-3 after three hours and 39 minutes under the closed roof of the Arthur Ashe Stadium, securing a spot in the quarterfinals on Sunday afternoon.
In his on-court interview, he commented: “I was playing fairly good, I think, for the first two sets. But for some reason, my body was starting to lose its rhthym a little bit and he was not going to just give up the match. I just had to stay patient and I think today the biggest thing that helped me was my experience and [the crowd].”
The edgy first all-Top 10 clash of men’s singles event saw the 33-year-old on the driver’s seat, racing to take a first set he sealed with an ace 6-3 against Rublev’s explosive display.
As the second set wore on, the ninth seed struggled with his serve, hitting doubles faults that could have cost him high as his opponent served for the set and failed which gave the Bulgarian breathing room to regroup, moving from defense into attack in the blink of an eye to force a tiebreaker he eventually took 7-6(3), opening two sets to love advantage.
On the other side of the net, Rublev gave signs of frustration, hitting himself with the racket.
Then, the 26-year-old, who was aiming to reach the last eight for the fourth consecutive time in New York, broke to open the third set, starting to follow the only possible path to victory for him, rallying from two sets down.
As a result, he took the third set by storm, closing out 6-1, winning 91 percent of the points on his first serve to narrow the gap to two sets to one.
Moreover, he capitalized on his opponent’s mistakes to deliver his game with great intensity, breaking Dimitrov’s serve on three occasions. It would be the first set the No. 1 Bulgarian player dropped all week.
Fending off break points to start the fourth set, Rublev was able to hold his ground, breaking to lead at 4-2.
When the contest reached the three-hour mark, he served for the set, double-faulted but recovered in time to wrap it up 6-3 and even the encounter, forcing a decider.
In the last and fifth set, Dimitrov raised his level while a disappointed Rublev saw the 9-time ATP titlist marching to open a staggering 4-1 advantage.
The 2019 US Open semifinalist fired his double fault No. 12 in the fourth round match and yet managed to hold, extending his lead to serve for the set and the match, he sealed with a forehand winner to find himself in the quarterfinals for the second time at the slam.
The Haskovo native hit 41 winners to 67 unforced errors compared to his adversary’s 47 and 59, respectively.
In addition, he converted three of 10 break points and won 80 percent of the points on his first serve and 18 of 14 net approaches.
“I’m just focusing on myself. I’ve had very tough weeks, with my body and everything. So, I just want to focus on my rehab and the good things that I did today, things that I can improve, just keep it as basic as possible, and I’m thrilled to be through to the second week,” the on-hand-backhanded outlined.
He will face eitherAustralian Alexei Popyrin, who stunned defending champions Novak Djokovic at the Grand Slam, or home hope Frances Tiafoe.
