The only Bulgarian in the tennis elite Grigor Dimitrov begins his campaign in the ATP 250 tournament in Stockholm with a second round match against the Frenchman Kenten Alice, reported Sportal.bg.
As the number 3 seed, Grisho rested in the first round and started his participation in one of his favorite tournaments straight from the round of 16. As is known, in 2013 it was in Stockholm that Dimitrov won his first ATP title.
Dimitrov had six consecutive quarter-final appearances in Stockholm between 2011 and 2017, reaching the final three times in that span. In 2013, the Bulgarian won the title against David Ferrer, and in 2014 and 2017 he lost the finals against Tomas Berdych and Juan Martin del Potro, respectively.
In 2024, Grisho has excellent results in the indoor arena - final in Marseille and semi-final in Rotterdam. In Shanghai, under a closed roof, he defeated (in a playoff) Zizu Bergs, and in the same environment he lost to the 19-year-old talent Jakub Mensik.
Kenten Allis eliminated Sumit Nagal 6-0, 6-4 to reach the last 16 in Stockholm, his first win at an ATP tournament since July in Gstaad. The Frenchman is dangerous with his powerful serve, namely indoor is his favorite atmosphere for tennis, having 155 victories in his career, although mainly in the "Challenger" series.
The match started with a fast game in favor of Alice, who skillfully used her opening shot and did not give Grigor a chance to show the power of her return. The Bulgarian had some hesitation on his first stand at the service line, but leveled the score, although he made a double fault at 30-30.
Alice tried to shorten the plays and relied a lot on her forehand. Grigor apparently needed some time to adjust to his opponent's style. In the fourth game, the native tennis player made several unprovoked errors and this led to a breakthrough in favor of the Frenchman.
Dimitrov immediately took measures and made a ribbreak. He took Alice's serve on the second try after waiting for his opponent's forehand out. Before that, the Frenchman stayed in the game thanks to his strong serve, but in the forehands he was unable to counter.
The score was 3:3 after Grigor got out of a difficult game in which he went through a draw. Haskovlia was close to a second consecutive break, but the serve came to Alice's rescue again. The Frenchman trailed 15-40 before his opening shot turned the tide of the game.
Dimitrov was not able to place consecutive good serves, but he was almost flawless from the baseline. The intelligent game of the Bulgarian saved him from problems in the eighth game - 4:4. Alice responded with the tried and tested service-net combination and forced Grigor to serve to stay in the set.
The task turned out to be difficult and the champion of 2013
Source: sportal.bg