Dimitrov Hits Crushing Forehand In Beijing 2016 Hot Shot
Dimitrov Hits Crushing Forehand In Beijing 2016 Hot Shot
Oct072016
Bulgarian scores upset win in China Open quarter-finals
Grigor Dimitrov broke his losing streak against second seed Rafael Nadal in their quarter-final on Friday at the China Open, scoring his first victory against the Spaniard in eight tries with an impressive 6-2 6-4 performance.
“I’m pretty happy with that win. I’m not going to lie. I’ve played Rafa quite a few times. So many times I was close or a couple times I was cramping. There was just always something happening,” said Dimitrov. “Today, I just played an excellent match. Simple as that. There’s not much else to say except that I’m proud. A lot of the work is paying off.”
The victory gives the Bulgarian has third Top 10 win of 2016, having already defeated Andy Murray at the Miami Open and Stan Wawrinka at the Western & Southern Open. Dimitrov is looking to reach his third final of the year, with previous runner-up showings at the Apia International Sydney and the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open.
“If I want to get to the top, meaning not just to enter the Top 10 (of the Emirates ATP Rankings), but to aim even higher and possibly be No. 1, that means that I need to play against these players pretty much every single week and beat them on a regular basis,” said Dimitrov. “I just want to stay on track and focus on whatever is in front of me.”
Nadal said he was unhappy with his performance, but hoped to regroup next week for the Shanghai Rolex Masters.
“It’s obvious that Grigor played much better than me and he deserved to win. Losing five serve games is something you can’t do to win a match like this,” said Nadal. “I fought until the last ball, but was going against psychologically bad feelings because I was suffering with my serve. When that happens, you have to go to the next tournament because you don’t deserve to win like this.”
Watch Dimitrov Interview
The match started with a surprising five consecutive breaks of serve as both players struggled to find their range. Dimitrov earned the first hold of the match to lead 4-2, but Nadal was unable to follow suit and was broken in the next game. Dimitrov comfortably closed out the set on serve at 5-2 to take a commanding lead.
When Dimitrov broke Nadal for a fifth straight time to open the second set, it appeared he would sprint into the semi-finals. But the Spaniard showed his trademark fighting spirit, saving two break points at 1-3 and another two at 2-4 to keep himself in the match. Dimitrov managed to remain calm, saving two break points at 4-3 and eventually holding serve to wrap up the match.
Next up for Dimitrov is third seed Milos Raonic, a 6-4 6-4 winner over Pablo Carreno Busta. Dimitrov leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head 2-1 and has won their past two meetings, but they haven’t played since the 2014 Australian Open.
World number two Andy Murray overcame fellow Briton Kyle Edmund 7-6 (11-9) 6-2 to make the China Open semi-finals.
Murray, 29, came through an even first set via a tie-break, but found himself a break down early in the second.
But Edmund, who will rise into the top 50 after beating Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut to make the least eight, then lost three straight service games to allow his compatriot through.
Murray will face Spain’s David Ferrer in the last four.
It was a heartening performance from Edmund, who hung tough with Murray in the first set despite failing to win a single point off the Scot’s first serve.
The 21-year-old Yorkshireman, who was ranked outside the top 100 in February, was edged out in the tie-break and then ran out of steam after a promising start to the second.
Murray has lost just once in 11 Tour level meetings with other Britons, going down in straight sets to Tim Henman in Bangkok in September 2006. He beat Edmund at the Aegon Championships quarter-finals at Queen’s earlier this year in their only previous meeting.
The other semi-final will see Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov play Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic of Canada.
Dimitrov ended the challenge of Spanish second seed Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals with a 6-2 6-4 victory.
It is the first time Dimitrov has beaten the 14-time Grand Slam champion and he is aiming to reach his third final of the year.
Raonic advanced after a 6-4 6-4 win over Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta.
#NextGen star blasts into SFs
#NextGen star Nick Kyrgios cruised past Gilles Muller 6-4, 6-2 in the quarter-finals of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2016 on Friday. The Aussie cranked 18 aces and did not drop serve in the 70-minute win.
“I thought I played great today,” Kyrgios said. “I served well, returned well and my engagement level was really good the whole time.”
Kyrgios broke the left-handed Muller in the opening game of the set, then held comfortably to arrive at 5-4. Needing to break to extend the set, Muller mustered two break points but saw Kyrgios erase both with well-placed serves. The Aussie extended his lead with spectacular, creative shotmaking to lead 5-1 in the second set and sealed victory on his third match point.
“I love playing in Japan, even back when I was a junior,” Kyrgios said. “The crowd is always enthusiastic. They’re always clapping, making noise. It’s fun to play in front of them. You can tell they’re different.”
Kyrgios only lost four points when landing a first serve and has yet to be broken this week. He remains in contention for a third ATP World Tour title (Marseille and Atlanta). The big-serving Muller also came into the match having not dropped serve, but was broken three times (3/12) on Friday.
British number one Johanna Konta recovered from losing her first two service games to sweep to a 6-4 6-0 win over China’s world number 36 Zhang Shuai in the China Open quarter-finals.
The 25-year-old was 4-0 down in the opening set, but won the final 12 games to deflate Zhang in front of her home fans.
Konta also recorded a straight-set win over Zhang at the Wuhan Open last week.
She will play American eighth seed Madison Keys in the semi-finals.
More to follow.
8 Classic Matches. 1 Golden Moment. You Pick The Winner.
From Nikolay Davydenko’s semi-final win over Novak Djokovic in 2009 to Roger Federer’s “greatest escape” in 2014, we’ve selected eight Classic Moments from the Shanghai Rolex Masters. Now, we need your help to crown the Golden Moment from this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament.
Watch & Vote
Watch the clips and vote for your favourite of each match-up. Round 1, which runs from now through 8pm ET Monday, October 10, features four head-to-head battles:
Davydenko Denies Djokovic (2009) vs Nishikori Overcomes Tsonga (2011)
Djokovic’s Thriller Vs DelPo (2013) vs Tsonga Takes Down Nadal (2015)
Murray Dominates Federer (2010) vs Ferrer Fights Past Roddick (2011)
Federer’s Great Escape (2014) vs Federer Halts Djokovic (2014)
Ensure your favourites advance to the semi-finals. Watch & Vote Now!
