Grigor Dimitrov qualified for the semifinals in Miami after a heavy battle against Argentine
Grigor Dimitrov qualified for the semi -finals of the 1000 series in Miami after a difficult win with 6: 7 (6), 6: 4, 7: 6 (3) against Argentine Francisco Serundolo. The battle lasted 2 hours and 48 minutes, and after her end the Bulgarian tennis player told the judge in the chair that he was a holy. The physical fatigue of Dimitrov was also visible at times of the match itself, and in the tiebreaker of the third set, he stepped up after the first point, which pulled out with incredible protection and a passing forshend on the short diagonal. Because of exhaustion, he asked him to be given time before the court interview. Dimitrov breathed hard and received medical attention, and his blood pressure was measured. In the end, the medical team helped him leave the central court of Hard Rock Stadium.
The beginning of the match showed that it would not be easy for the Bulgarian in the tournament in the tournament. He made a breakthrough, but managed to return it to the next game. This set reached a tiebreaker, and Dimitrov missed a total of seven sets, including one in the long last game at 6: 5 points in his favor, when he was easy to see the network of the net.
Despite the first set, the finalist in Miami from last year responded positively and led with a breakthrough at the start of the second part, which was enough for him to reach 6: 4. The start of the decisive set was a nightmare for the best Bulgarian tennis player – a backlog of 0-3 breakthroughs. Dimitrov, encouraged by his coach Jamie Delgado, found strength to turn and reached 3: 3. And when he served in the 12th game, he also reflected a breakthrough point. The tiebreaker started with a phenomenal play, in which Dimitrov looked had no chance of taking the point, but finally, almost rested against the wall, he managed to make a winning pass. At the end of the point, however, he stepped down and slightly turned his right ankle, and in the next few minutes he could see that he was experiencing pain.
His lead reached 3: 0 points, then went through 4: 2, and at 5: 3 he made an important mini -carve to reach three options to end the meeting. The first of these was realized after an unprovoked mistake by the 26-year-old Serundolo and brought victory number 150 to Masters Tournaments for the 33-year-old Haskovo.
Thus, Dimitrov became the first semi -finalist in the tournament – and is the only one so far. The match he had to determine his next rival – the one between Novak Djokovic and Sebastian Corda, was postponed today, because according to the ATP rules there was no way to start after 11:00 am local time. The semi -finals itself will be played on Friday not before 9:00 pm Bulgarian time. The other two quarterfinals, which are at the top of the scheme (FIS – Menshik and Fritz – Beretini), are also programmed for tonight.
After Dimitrov’s marathon victory over Serundolo, there are some curious facts. The Bulgarian is only the fifth in the history of the Miami tournament, reaching two semifinals in the tournament after his 30th anniversary. The others are Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer and John Isner. Career Haskovo has already won 14 matches in which he has to cover a match, with more such victories from the current tennis players – 17, only Djokovic has. And last but not least, Dimitrov has won 9 of his last 10 games, which have reached a decisive tiebreaker in the third set. The only exception was against Holger Rune after nearly 4 hours of Masters game in Monte Carlo last April.
