The best Bulgarian tennis player Grigor Dimitrov qualified for the semifinals of the "Masters" tournament in Miami, sportal.bg reported.
Grisho demonstrated a will to win and defeated Francisco Cerundolo from Argentina in three sets - 6:7(6), 6:4, 7:6(3). Although he was visibly very tired in the middle of the match, Grigor found a way to reach the final success after 2 hours and 50 minutes of play.
The Bulgarian dramatically lost the first set, in which he missed many opportunities, including in the tiebreak. However, he immediately broke through at the start of the second half and held his lead, and in the decisive third set he caught up with Serundolo after falling behind by 0:3. The outcome came after another tiebreak, but before that Dimitrov saved a match point.
Until now, Grigor had only met Serundolo once. This happened in 2023, when the Bulgarian won 6:3, 7:5 at the grass tournament in Queens.
In the semifinals, the 33-year-old Haskovo player will face the winner of the match between Novak Djokovic and Sebastian Korda. Last year, Grisho played in the final in Miami, but lost to Yannick Siner.
FIRST SET:
The beginning was not at all optimistic for Grigor Dimitrov. He allowed a break point in the opening game after struggling to place a first serve, and Serundolo took advantage and took the upper hand with powerful forehands from the bottom of the court. The Bulgarian responded appropriately and made a rebreak. He missed the first four opportunities to take the Argentine's serve, but succeeded on the fifth attempt.
Dimitrov tried to be aggressive and not give the initiative to his opponent. He easily won the next game and led 2:1, but Serundolo did not allow hesitation on his own serve. At 3:3, Grigor found himself in a difficult situation. He had to reflect a break point and coped with the task thanks to an excellent defensive shot that surprised Serundolo. More rallies followed in the Bulgarian's favor and the game went his way.
Grigor was reaping the rewards of his versatile play, while Serundolo preferred to rely mainly on deep forehands. In the tenth game, the Argentine had to serve to stay in the set and the pressure was on his side. He fell behind 15-40, but reached a draw, not without the help of the net. Dimitrov had three more chances to close the set in his favor, but Serundolo held on.
In the tiebreak, Grigor missed a forehand from a comfortable position, after which Serundolo scored a good first serve and pulled ahead 2:0. Dimitrov returned a mini-break with an excellent return, which forced his opponent to make a mistake, but then the Bulgarian had to catch up again. He won two consecutive games on Serundolo's serve to take a 4-3 lead, but a perfect short serve from the Argentine tied the score. An ace from Dimitrov and a powerful forehand from Serundolo secured two set points for the home-grown tennis player. The first was saved by the South American, and in the second, Grigor easily missed a volley into the net. This gave Serundolo courage and he pulled out the tiebreak 8-6.
SECOND SET:
The way Grisho started the second set was indicative of the fact that he quickly overcame the disappointment of the outcome at the end of the first. He made an early breakthrough and very quickly consolidated it with several excellent serves. From here on, the Haskovo player focused on winning his own serves, without necessarily looking for a new breakthrough.
In the role of catching up, Serundolo made a lot of mistakes and seemed to have resigned himself to the fact that it would come to a third set. The Argentine still had his flashes, but at 5:4 Grigor served for the set and everything depended on him. This time he was unassailable and did not give a single point to his opponent.
THIRD SET:
At the beginning of the third set, Dimitrov was put under pressure. He saved one breakthrough point, but failed in the second and Serundolo led 2:0, and fatigue was written on the Bulgarian's face. He tried his best to shorten the rallies, but this also led to more errors.
Grisho threw a lot of energy and fought for the fourth game, and immediately got a chance to return the break and did not miss it. Serundolo underestimated the situation and was punished, and Dimitrov masterfully made the most of it to revive his chances for ultimate success. Another game in favor of the Bulgarian followed for 3:3, before Serundolo interrupted his series.
Although physically exhausted, Grisho found the right solutions. With a game to nil, he tied for 4:4, but then made several errors that prevented him from pressing Serundolo on his serve. When he had to survive the match, Dimitrov demonstrated the power of his opening shot and the score became 5:5.
Before the tiebreak, Grisho had to save a match point, but Serundolo sent his forehand into the net and helped him. The deciding game started with a magnificent point in favor of the Bulgarian, who immediately used the momentum and led 3:0, and then realized an important mini-break for 4:1. A double fault by Dimitrov brought back Serundolo's hopes, but he did not have the strength to turn things around. Grigor won three match points in a row and the first one was realized.