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- May 8, 2002
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Grigor Dimitrov proved he is not just a pretty face after winning a pulsating battle of the Wimbledon pin-ups against Matteo Berrettini.
Bulgarian poster boy Dimitrov secured a 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3 victory over Italian hot-shot Berrettini to reach the second week.
His handsome reward is a fourth-round meeting with Britain’s Arthur Fery – the first time two wild cards have met in the last 16 at Wimbledon.
The ever-modest Dimitrov, speaking ahead of the third-round clash, had said: “If nothing else, it’s gonna be a pretty match.”
And at times during the three-hour, 32-minute clash, the tennis was as easy on the eye as the participants.
Both players have won the hearts of Centre Court in the past, Berrettini after his final defeat by Novak Djokovic and Dimitrov when he suffered a devastating pectoral injury while on the verge of knocking out Jannik Sinner 12 months ago.
Sinner went on to win title, while Dimitrov has been plagued by injury ever since with his ranking plummeting, meaning he needed a wild card to compete this year.
But he is back in the form which had Sinner on the ropes, so much so that Marco van Basten, the Netherlands Euro 88 hero watching from the Royal Box, would have appreciated some of the volleys coming off the 35-year-old’s racket.
He rattled off the first set in just 33 minutes and a flamboyant backhand overhead winner secured the solitary break in the second.
Berrettini rediscovered his fearsome forehand to nick the third, before the decision was made to close the roof so the lights could go on.
Dimitrov pleaded with the supervisor to leave it open, no doubt mindful that the 10-minute delay to shut it last year immediately preceded his injury.
Berrettini had the wind in his sails, breaking at the start of the fourth and, having been pegged back, again for 6-5 before serving out to take it to a decider.
However, a laser-guided Dimitrov backhand proved the difference as he moved 3-1 ahead and held his nerve down the final straight for an emotional victory.
“Truly amazing to be back here, I’m so happy,” he said. “I just wanted to come back and compete again and again, as much as I could. There’s really something special in the air out here.
“Me and that roof have a history. Listen, after last year and the way I exited I will never know what would have happened. But I’m back here and able to rewrite everything again.”
Continue reading...
Bulgarian poster boy Dimitrov secured a 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3 victory over Italian hot-shot Berrettini to reach the second week.
His handsome reward is a fourth-round meeting with Britain’s Arthur Fery – the first time two wild cards have met in the last 16 at Wimbledon.
The ever-modest Dimitrov, speaking ahead of the third-round clash, had said: “If nothing else, it’s gonna be a pretty match.”
And at times during the three-hour, 32-minute clash, the tennis was as easy on the eye as the participants.
Both players have won the hearts of Centre Court in the past, Berrettini after his final defeat by Novak Djokovic and Dimitrov when he suffered a devastating pectoral injury while on the verge of knocking out Jannik Sinner 12 months ago.
Sinner went on to win title, while Dimitrov has been plagued by injury ever since with his ranking plummeting, meaning he needed a wild card to compete this year.
But he is back in the form which had Sinner on the ropes, so much so that Marco van Basten, the Netherlands Euro 88 hero watching from the Royal Box, would have appreciated some of the volleys coming off the 35-year-old’s racket.
He rattled off the first set in just 33 minutes and a flamboyant backhand overhead winner secured the solitary break in the second.
Berrettini rediscovered his fearsome forehand to nick the third, before the decision was made to close the roof so the lights could go on.
Dimitrov pleaded with the supervisor to leave it open, no doubt mindful that the 10-minute delay to shut it last year immediately preceded his injury.
Berrettini had the wind in his sails, breaking at the start of the fourth and, having been pegged back, again for 6-5 before serving out to take it to a decider.
However, a laser-guided Dimitrov backhand proved the difference as he moved 3-1 ahead and held his nerve down the final straight for an emotional victory.
“Truly amazing to be back here, I’m so happy,” he said. “I just wanted to come back and compete again and again, as much as I could. There’s really something special in the air out here.
“Me and that roof have a history. Listen, after last year and the way I exited I will never know what would have happened. But I’m back here and able to rewrite everything again.”
Continue reading...
