Grigor Dimitrov sends letter of intent to other Turin hopefuls with Vienna win | ATP Tour
Matching Report
Dimitrov sends letter of intent to other Turin hopefuls with win in Vienna
The third seed will face Machac in the second round at the ATP 500
October 23, 2024
in|motion| Bildagentur Zolles KG | Michael Meindl
Grigor Dimitrov advances to the second round of the 2024 Erste Bank Open.
Written by Jerome Coombe
Grigor Dimitrov showed no sign of letting up in his Nitto ATP Finals qualifying battle with a thrilling opening round win at the Erste Bank Open on Wednesday.
The third started his campaign in Vienna with a hard-fought 6-4, 7-5 win over China’s Zhang Zhizhen. Dimitrov, knocked out by Tommy Paul in last week’s final in Stockholm, bounced back from a sluggish start to win in one hour and 37 minutes back in the Austrian capital.
“The conditions from last week until today are very different. In the end, I had to find a way somehow, but I have a lot of experience in times like that,” said Dimitrov, who improved to 44-16 on the season.
“In the beginning, I was playing well, but I couldn’t be very successful in serving. In the second half, I almost had more chances, but in the last match, I had more control which helped me to go forward and put more pressure on him.”
Dimi focus 😤
The 2022 semi-finals got off to a good start in Vienna#ErsteBankOpen | @ErsteBankOpen | @GrigorDimitrov pic.twitter.com/tUQi0vru30
– ATP Tour (@atptour) October 23, 2024
In his quest to qualify for a second appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals (champion, 2017), Dimitrov has temporarily reclaimed 10th place in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin. The 33-year-old trails eighth-placed Andrey Rublev on 520 points, who heads into Basel this week.
Dimitrov leads the Tour in indoor hard court wins in 2024 (11-5), and could strengthen his chances of entering the Nitto ATP Finals with strong runs in Vienna and the Rolex Paris Masters.
After dropping serve in the opening game, Dimitrov came alive and converted the two break points he created, according to Infosys ATP Stats, to steal the first set. Zhang hung on and stayed within touching distance for the rest of the second, before finally creating two more break opportunities of his own in the 11th game.
However, Dimitrov found two brutal forehand winners to get through the game unscathed before sealing the decisive break for victory. Dimitrov will face Tomas Machac, who won 7-6 (5), 6-1 against Fabian Marozsan.
