Bulgarian dashes Aussies’ hopes
Dimitrov beats Kyrgios, reaches quarterfinals
MELBOURNE, Australia – The Australian Open hasn’t seen an Australian man win the home Grand Slam tournament title since 1976. Mark Edmondson, who achieved that feat 42 years ago, hardly remains a household name, even in these parts, this many years later.
Since then, there’s been hope another Australian would lift the trophy on home soil, but even Pat Cash and Patrick Rafter, who won Grand Slam titles elsewhere, couldn’t win in Melbourne.
Of late, Australian tennis has been banking on the highly talented and emotionally raw Nick Kyrgios to end the drought.
That misfortune, however, won’t be alleviated this year as Kyrgios, the last Australian remaining in the singles competition, bowed out to Grigor Dimitrov in an edge-of-the-seat 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 7-6 (7-4) fourth-round nailbiter.
Kyrgios, who was seeded 17th, is a rarity for a top player as he remains without a coach by choice and says he won’t be changing that in the near future.
Third-seeded Dimitrov is definitely cruising with more confidence these days, having received a big boost to his morale when he won the year-end ATP Finals in November, without a doubt the most prominent of the eight career titles he owns.
This match marked the fourth encounter between the two. Dimitrov entered the match with a 2-1 advantage, but Kyrgios had posted the latest success, winning his first trophy in Australia by beating Dimitrov in the Brisbane semifinal two weeks ago, thereby preventing the Bulgarian from successfully defending his title.
From the perspective of sheer entertainment, fans couldn’t ask for more than the great display put on by both players Sunday. The tennis was fun, powerful and offered crafty play.
“First of all, playing against Nick is always tricky,” Dimitrov told the crowd. “He was serving unbelievable, playing unbelievable. It’s one of those matches you have to be locked in and take your few opportunities.”
Dimitrov finally won the last five points of the fourth-set tiebreaker to end the 3-hour, 26-minute match, executing a breathtaking forehand crosscourt winner on the final point.
After the match, the two good friends shared a lengthy chat at the net.
“I told him to believe in himself,” Kyrgios said of the exchange. “I think he hasn’t reached his best game yet. I think he can go the whole way and win his first Grand Slam.”
Kyrgios excelled with 76 winners to
64 for Dimitrov. Taking more risks, Kyrgios also had 56 unforced errors to 27 for Dimitrov.
There were no breaks of serve in the first set with Kyrgios saving the three break points he faced in the sixth game. In the tiebreaker, Dimitrov led 5-2 and won the set when Kyrgios double-faulted on the last point.
The second set also landed in a tiebreaker after Dimitrov surrendered a
5-4 advantage, failing to serve out the set in the 10th game.
Kyrgios truly became a factor in the third set, when he stopped moaning at his team in the stands and put full concentration on the court.
He broke Dimitrov’s serve in the fifth game and went on to serve out the set at love, pounding down one of the 36 aces he snapped in the match on the final point.
The conclusion seemed at hand when Kyrgios netted what should’ve been a routine overhead smash to lose his serve in the eighth game of the fourth set, putting Dimitrov in position to serve out the match at 5-3. But nerves got the better of the Bulgarian, who couldn’t close the door on Kyrgios, and had to wait to win in his third tiebreaker of the encounter.
Dimitrov is now into his third Australian Open quarterfinal and second consecutive final eight at Melbourne Park. Last year, Dimitrov journeyed to the semifinals, which was his second Grand Slam final four achievement, having reached that round at Wimbledon in 2014.
He is the first Bulgarian player — man or woman — to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals three times in the Open era.
Dimitrov, however, still has ground to cover to be the Bulgarian national with the most quarterfinal appearances in the majors in the Open era. Now into his fourth Grand Slam quarterfinal, two of the three long-retired Maleeva sisters are ahead of him with that record — Manuela played in nine major quarterfinals and Katerina seven.
Dimitrov’s four-set win over 30thseeded Russian Andrey Rublev in the previous round provided him with 19 match wins at Melbourne Park, which did edge out Manuela Maleeva’s record of 18 matches won here.
Awaiting Dimitrov in the next match is Briton Kyle Edmund, making his Grand Slam quarterfinal debut after outlasting Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 6-2, 6-3.